A boxer thrown behind bars after brutally attacking a referee at a suburban soccer match has sought freedom by trying to overturn his jail sentence.
Shouts arose from the crowd as Adam Abdallah, 27, launched a flurry of kicks and punches at match official Khodr Yaghi after a match at Padstow in south-west Sydney in April 2023.
Yaghi received two fractures to his jaw, lost four teeth and suffered a paralysed lip which affected his ability to eat and speak.
Abdallah pleaded guilty to one count of reckless grievous bodily harm and was jailed at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court in February for at least one year and two months.
He also received a maximum sentence of two years and three months, expiring on April 24, 2027.
Abdallah has since appealed.
Today, his solicitor Boushra Elkheir told the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal her client wanted to reduce his sentence.
He has asked the court to impose an intensive corrections order, which allows him to serve time in the community instead of behind bars.
Elkheir asked for the hearing to be heard as quickly as possible because Abdallah’s non-parole period was due to expire in March.
A tentative hearing date has been set for May 23.
The soccer match altercation began with an abusive exchange between the pair before Yaghi hit the boxer in the head with a 40cm flagpole.
Initially restrained by his friends, Abdallah went back to swing at the referee, punching and kicking him as he lay on the grass.
In the video footage, Yaghi was afterwards seen bloodied, swollen and shaken.
“He broke my jaw,” the referee said as he was urged by others to sit down.
In a letter filed with the District Court, Abdallah acknowledged his guilt and apologised to Yaghi and his family.
“My actions on that day were excessive and inexcusable,” he wrote.
“I just wish I could take it all back.”
