A fly-in, fly-out worker accused of a shocking one punch attack that left a Perth father fighting for his life allegedly pushed the man’s wife to the ground first so he could land the devastating blow.
Court documents obtained by The West Australian also reveal that as Glen Cahill lay unconscious outside Hillarys Beach Club, Matthew Anthony Jennings then allegedly glanced over his shoulder and walked away leaving Mr Cahill’s distraught wife and others to help him.
Mr Jennings is accused of causing Mr Cahill grievous bodily harm following the altercation between the pair as they waited for rideshare vehicles outside the venue on Melbourne Cup day last year.
It is alleged the 41-year-old punched Mr Cahill in the face causing him to lose consciousness and fall backwards and strike his head on the road.
The father-of-two sustained severe head injuries and remained in a critical condition for four days.
He has since made a miraculous recovery, telling 7NEWS last week he felt “extremely lucky” to be alive and had returned to work.
Mr Jennings faced Joondalup Magistrates Court again on Monday with the brief hearing told his legal team was still waiting for more details of the evidence.
But The West Australian has obtained the transcript from his bail application hearing in November which revealed more details of the alleged incident.
According to the transcript, Mr Cahill and his wife Tarryn had been at the pub enjoying the festivities when they decided to leave around 4pm on November 5.
As they waited for their Uber, Mr Jennings — who had also been waiting — approached them with the trio engaging in a brief conversation.
In opposing bail, the police prosecutor told the court shortly after the trio began speaking, the Cahills moved away from Mr Jennings.
She said the accused then approached Mr Cahill in an “intimidating manner”.
“The accused has then walked over,” she said.
“He has grabbed the collar of the victim, and the victim’s wife attempted to break the grip of the accused.
“However, he throws her to the ground, and the accused winds his hand back and then punches the victim to the right side of his face.
“The punch was (with) such force that it causes the victim to lose consciousness and his head bounces off the concrete.”
The prosecutor told the court Mr Jennings then showed a “callous disregard and the lack of remorse” towards Mr Cahill as “he simply walks off”.
“You can see it from the footage,” she said.
“He casually glances over his shoulder. He sees the victim on the floor, and yet he still walks off.”
The prosecutor told Magistrate Raelene Johnston that the prosecution’s case was “bullet-proof” adding the unprovoked incident was captured on CCTV.
Mr Jennings was granted bail on $50,000 personal undertaking and a $100,000 surety.
He was also ordered to not contact or go within 50m of Mr Cahill, surrender his passport and not attend a departure point except when he needs to fly out for work.
He expected to appear in court again in March.
https://thewest.com.au/news/court-justice/new-details-emerge-in-alleged-one-punch-attack-at-hillarys-beach-club-on-melbourne-cup-day-c-17445512
