Paul Brown played 84 games for the Cats. Credit:AFL Media Mr Brown, originally from Echuca, played 84 games for Geelong, including the 1994 and 1995 grand finals. Police prosecutor Michael Roper told the court Mr Al Wahame had a fight with his girlfriend inside the kebab shop about 9.15pm, his former girlfriend left the restaurant and Mr Al Wahame followed her outside. Once outside the girlfriend kept walking on Vaughan Street and heard Mr Al Wahame yell out "what the f--- are you looking at, why are you looking at me, do you want to fight?" to Mr Brown, who was walking into Mustafa's, Mr Roper said. Mr Al Wahame pushed the victim once, Mr Brown attempted to walk around the accused, who then punched him in the chest.

Paul Brown pictured in 2001. "He (Mr Brown) fell backwards uncontrollably and hit the road, Mr Brown remained motionless on the road for a number of minutes," Mr Roper said. Mr Brown was helped by some bystanders before an ambulance arrived and took him to a local hospital with a skull fracture and bleeding to his brain. Due to the seriousness of his injuries, the former footballer was airlifted to The Alfred and CT scans were performed, revealing he had a tumour on his brain. Mr Brown was operated on to remove the tumour shortly after and since then has received ongoing treatment at Epworth Rehabilitation Centre.

Mr Roper said the attack had caused the victim "significant ongoing impairments" including issues with fatigue. "His prognosis is guarded due to its ongoing nature," Mr Roper said. County Court Judge Lance Pilgrim was surprised that the attack had unveiled a pre-existing medical problem for Mr Brown. "Being assaulted is not fortunate, but in a way it's fortunate it occurred in the sense of the extra difficulty becoming known," Judge Pilgrim said. In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mr Brown said the attack had caused him significant physical and emotional pain and financial costs.

He said four days after he was king hit, he and his family were due to go on a holiday. "You should have seen the look on my childrens' faces," Mr Brown, who is married with four children, said in the statement. "The time frame is unknown on when I will be able to perform a normal life again. "Being a football coach, the director of a business that employees 12 full-time staff, the impact of not being involved in these roles causes anger, frustration and depression." Mr Al Wahame stood before the court and pleaded guilty to recklessly causing injury and failing to appear at court on two separate occasions, in January and February this year.

He has since served about seven months at Port Phillip Prison. Mr Roper proposed a sentence of 15 years in prison for recklessly causing injury and two years for failure to appear. Public defender Raphael de Vietre said due to Mr Al Wahame's young age, the 19-year-old was eligible for a sentence of three years at a youth detention centre. He said his client was born in Lebanon and had suffered a childhood "marked by poverty and frequent exposure to violence". His family migrated to Victoria when Mr Al Wahame was 10, and his lack of English caused problems for him throughout his schooling.

Mr de Vietre said his client's family were strict Muslims and did not approve of his non-Muslim girlfriend, who he was fighting with when Mr Brown was attacked. He said Mr Al Wahame turned to drugs, including ice, when he became isolated from his family. Mr Al Wahame has a history of violent and drug-related crime, the court heard. His stint at Port Phillip Prison among serious adult offenders had been a "sobering" experience for the 19-year-old. "He acknowledges he has no future in male prison after seeing the people around him," Mr de Vietre said. "He understands his behaviour was reckless and through his reckless behaviour the unintended consequences have impacted on the individual's life and on his family."

Judge Pilgrim adjourned the matter to Melbourne County Court on September 2, to give Mr Al Wahame a chance to be assessed for suitability at a juvenile detention centre.