Joseph Esmaili, 22, is charged with manslaughter of Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann at Melbourne’s Box Hill hospital

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The sound of a punched surgeon’s head hitting a hospital’s tile floor was like “the noise of a 10-pin bowling ball”, a court has heard.

There was evidence the impact of the fall cracked the tile floor, Crown prosecutor Mark Gibson SC told Melbourne magistrates court.

Joseph Esmaili, 23, is charged with the manslaughter of cardiothoracic surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann at the Box Hill Hospital on 30 May.

Gibson said the surgeon noticed a group, including Esmaili, who was smoking in the non-smoking area outside the hospital, and called security.

Esmaili then entered the hospital and had a confrontation with Pritzwald-Stegmann, who told him that smoking was banned, before asking Esmaili to leave the hospital.

CCTV footage played to the court on Monday showed the two men talking closely before the accused launches a single punch, knocking down Pritzwald-Stegmann, who hit his head on the tiled floor unconscious.

“Evidence suggests the back of his head cracked the tiled floor,” Gibson told the first day of the five-day committal hearing.

Before the punch, the surgeon was heard saying to the accused: “Did you just spit in my face?” The accused man then told him: “I need you to suck my dick.”

Witness Darren Haymes said Pritzwald-Stegmann’s fall made a “huge thud”.

“I saw and heard the noise of a ten-pin bowling ball hitting the floor,” he told the court.

Gibson said Pritzwald-Stegmann was not showing aggression and had his arms by his side immediately before being punched.



The accused, who was on bail at the time, allegedly fled after the attack.

Defence barrister John Desmond suggested Pritzwald-Stegmann may have injured himself further as he became agitated and combative following the assault.

Anaesthetist Gordon Mar could not rule out he may have further injured to himself by “thrashing about”, adding moderate to severe head injuries could cause agitation.

Pritzwald-Stegmann suffered a large bleed on the skull and died almost a month later.

The hearing continues on Tuesday.