Bouncer escapes jail after 'vicious and cowardly' assault on woman

A bouncer in Australia who punched a woman in the face as part of a 'vicious and cowardly' attack has escaped with a suspended jail term. The fracas, which took place in August 2011, started when a patron ducked under a rope outside onesixone nightclub in Prahran, Melbourne.
He then put his arms around two bouncers but they retaliated by pulling him to the ground. When the young man's female friend tried to intervene, bouncer Ahmed Popal responded with a forceful slap and then a punch that sent her flying. He followed up by kicking her friend in the face.

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Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg was appalled and said: “Your actions were vicious and, I might add, cowardly." Mr Rozencwajg said he did not accept defense counsel Chris Dane's submissions that Popal felt threatened at the time. The magistrate said Popal was a professional security guard who had been trained to quell and avoid violent confrontations.

He said Mr Popal had since handed in his security license but questioned why the 25-year-old year old even had one - when he had a prior assault conviction. Mr Popal’s QC had expressed concerns that the publication of the CCTV video would humiliate his client. But the magistrate said publicity was key to open justice and accountability. He imposed a seven month suspended sentence and $10,000 fine, saying if it had not been for his guilty plea it would have been more.