news, regional-focus

WARNING: This video contains extreme, graphic violence, that may shock some readers. The video is from CCTV footage that was presented as evidence in Wollongong District Court. Readers are advised to exercise discretion before viewing the video. In particular, parents should not allow children to watch the video unless the parent has reviewed it first. If you wish to watch the video, click here. BREAKING NEWS: Jamiee Lee Haynes, the woman who acted as a lookout while her partner, Timothy Phillip Williams, bashed an African refugee outside Wollongong train station, has been jailed for two and a half year for her role in the attack. She will serve a minimum 15 months behind bars before being released on bail next year. Read more here. EARLIER: An Illawarra man has been jailed nine years for the vicious and unprovoked assault of a refugee at Wollongong railway station last October. Timothy Williams, 26, had pleaded guilty during an earlier court appearance to a charge of aggravated robbery with wounding, admitting he and co-accused Jaimee Lee Haynes, 28, were behind the October 6 attack, in which the victim was punched multiple times before being robbed. The refugee, who had been in Australia from his native Eritrea (in Africa) for only five days, required stitches in his left ear and lost a tooth in the ordeal. Read Judge Conlon's full judgment here. The entire incident was captured on CCTV, a matter presiding judge Paul Conlon said provided the court with a reliable account of how the incident unfolded. "A viewing of this footage is all that is needed to make an accurate assessment of the objective seriousness of this offence," he said, describing Williams' actions as a "sickening attack". "It is clear that when the offenders reached the station pedestrian walkway they were waiting for a victim. "When the victim was stopped, it was also clear that there was a plan of action." In handing down the judgment on Thursday morning, Judge Conlon slammed Williams's attempts to downplay the seriousness of the assault, and his role in it, while speaking to a court-appointed psychologist. "He provides [the doctor] with a palpably false version of his confrontation and vicious assault on an unsuspecting victim," Judge Conlon said, noting Williams had suggested to the doctor that the victim had provoked him by calling him a "black bum". "This footage serves to demonstrate the lie to any suggestion that the victim in anyway provoked this altercation." Williams was given a non-parole period of six years, back-dated to when he first came into custody at the time of the offence. He will be eligible for parole in 2019. Wollongong refugee attack: how they were busted | new video If you are using our iPhone app, you can view footage in the video tab.

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