Joshua Denniss has won an appeal to reduce his prison sentence for a vicious assault in 2022. Photo: Sang Hyun Cho, Pixabay.
A man who bashed a stranger so badly he caused permanent brain damage has received an 18-month discount on his original prison sentence after an appeal.
When 39-year-old Joshua Denniss (aka Michael Shaw) stayed at the Adina in Wollongong in 2022 he was recently released from prison and adjusting poorly to life outside.
His dependence on drugs and alcohol made him irritable and edgy.
He took himself outside for a smoke at about 3 am on 30 August 2022 and accidentally locked himself out of his apartment.
He asked night manager, 48-year-old Amos Baker to let him back in. When Mr Baker couldn’t immediately satisfy Denniss’ request he unleashed a violent fury.
Denniss walked around the counter and punched Mr Baker, who fell to the ground where Denniss straddled his chest and rained blows on Mr Baker’s head and face.
Mr Baker was hit more than 30 times in the ferocious attack. Motionless and bleeding, Mr Baker’s face was smothered by Denniss’ full body weight for almost a minute.
When Denniss finally got up he stepped on Mr Baker’s stomach before walking away.
Shortly afterwards he turned up at Wollongong Police Station and bummed a smoke from an officer before saying, “I’ve murdered someone … I lost the plot … I bashed him”.
Ambulance and police arrived at the Adina at about 4 am.
They found Mr Baker unconscious and covered in blood in an office with an auto-lock door.
Bloody handprints showed he had tried and failed to stand, and had to drag himself to safety instead.
Mr Baker was intubated and placed in an induced coma.
He lived, but suffered substantial, permanent brain damage, cognitive dysfunction and permanent physical and mental disabilities.
He can no longer work and requires significant care and medical treatment.
In 2024 Judge Sharon Harris sentenced Denniss to 10 years and six months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of seven years’ imprisonment, for grievous bodily harm with intent.
The maximum sentence for the offence is 25 years, and a standard non-parole period of seven years. Denniss’ sentence included a 25 per cent discount for his guilty plea and was backdated to begin on 30 August 2022.
Denniss recently appealed his sentence, on the grounds it did not take into account that his admission to police shortly after the attack resulted in Mr Baker receiving timely medical attention.
The appeal, heard by Judge Christine Adamson, was granted on 30 July.
Judge Adamson said she accepted that Denniss’ honesty with police in the aftermath of his crime did allow medical help to reach Mr Baker earlier than it otherwise would have, and found he was entitled to a 7.5 per cent discount on his total sentence.
“I also take the applicant’s disclosure to the police into account as indicating remorse at that early stage, and would make a further allowance in the sentence for that remorse,” she said.
Judge Adamson ultimately reduced Denniss’ sentence to nine years, with a six-year non-parole period.
He will be eligible for release in August 2028.
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