A man was elbowed and punched during a late-night scuffle with Melbourne Storm star Shawn Blore and his brother, a court has been told.
The alleged target of the assault, Naaman Mikhael, 31, who was also accused of affray over the incident, had the charge dismissed on mental health grounds on Monday after a magistrate heard he did not start the violence.
Both Shawn, 24 and Dean Blore, 26, have pleaded not guilty to an affray charge following the alleged melee outside a Lebanese restaurant on Sydney’s Little Hunter Street shortly after 2.30am on July 7.
The violence started after Mikhael was asked to leave the restaurant for acting aggressively towards another person, Downing Centre Local Court was told.
Outside, he was singled out by the Blore brothers while several other unrelated skirmishes took place around the group, the 31-year-old’s lawyer George Thomas said.
“The event has started with people pointing at him and saying words to the effect of ‘that’s him, that’s him’,” Thomas said.
CCTV footage of the incident showed “multiple skirmishes between different groups of people” taking place outside the restaurant, the lawyer added.
He described the footage as “quite extraordinary to watch”.
“In that context [Mikhael] was set upon,” Thomas said.
“He has very little recollection of the events. He was concussed, in shock.”
Thomas said his client was elbowed and then punched, prompting him to take off his shirt and lift a bollard from outside the restaurant above his head.
Magistrate Jennifer Price accepted that the prosecution case indicated Mikhael did not instigate the violence and initially at least might have been acting in self-defence.
“A scuffle has broken out between about 15 people,” she said.
“The facts indicate the co-accused stood over the applicant and assaulted him.
“It certainly appears he has come off worse for wear initially.”
The Blore brothers grabbed Mikhael by the collar and one of them appeared to forcibly push an elbow into his jaw after they were seen “aggressively standing in each other’s faces and arguing”, the court was told.
The 31-year-old ended up on the ground, after which he was allegedly punched again before responding by grabbing the bollard.
“He doesn’t appear to have been the initiator of the physical violence and doesn’t appear to have been the main player in terms of it unfolding,” Price said.
The magistrate granted an application to dismiss the charge against Mikhael, instead placing him into the care of a mental health professional.
Both Blore brothers’ matters are due to return to court in August.
Shawn Blore was swapped to the Storm from previous team Wests Tigers before the 2024 NRL season.
