A young Sydney man has pleaded not guilty to a serious assault on the grounds he was acting in self-defence when he clashed with a man who was left fighting for life.
Daniel Kai Angelos, 23, will stand trial in the District Court in Sydney next year charged with assaulting Simon Cramp in an inner-city brawl on June 1.
The Crown alleges Mr Cramp was an innocent bystander who was attacked on George Street after he witnessed Angelos and some of his friends assaulting another man in the early hours of the morning.
Mr Cramp, 26, was "violently attacked without provocation" after he and his girlfriend paused beside the brawl and Angelos walked towards Mr Cramp yelling, "What are you looking at?", a statement of police facts tendered in court said.
CCTV footage showed Angelos punching Mr Cramp in the head three times as Mr Cramp "put his hands in the air as a gesture of surrender", the facts said.
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Mr Cramp suffered severe head injuries.
In Central Local Court on Tuesday, Angelos pleaded not guilty to one count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of affray.
He waived his right to a committal hearing and the matter will go straight to trial.
His lawyer, Ben Archbold, told reporters that Mr Cramp threw the first punch, adding Mr Cramp's girlfriend Laura Symes had told police this.
Facts tendered to the court show Ms Symes said she saw her boyfriend "try and punch" Angelos after he pushed Mr Cramp repeatedly.
"I don't recall what part of the aggressive male's body the punch connected with, if at all," Ms Symes said in a police statement.
She said the assault on Mr Cramp lasted about 45 seconds before he went to the ground.
"I saw blood coming from one of his ears down his neck," Ms Symes told police.
Mr Cramp took weeks to recover in hospital after surgery to reduce swelling on his brain.
Angelos withdraw an application to apply for bail on Tuesday and will remain in custody over the Christmas period.
The matter will return to court on January 24 for a trial date to be set.
