A boxer involved in a cowardly assault at a Wodonga park and who distributed an intimate picture of his former partner has told a court he can't explain or remember why he did what he did.
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George Webb-Rose, 21, faced sentence in relation to the distribution of an intimate image as well as charges stemming from two assaults, one at a party he had no right to be at last year as well as a group attack at Willow Park in Wodonga that dates back to 2020.
Questioned about why he was involved in the more serious matters by magistrate Peter Dunn, Webb-Rose said "I don't know" and "I really can't remember".
Webb-Rose obtained success when taking on opponents one-on-one in the boxing ring but on July 18 back in 2020, the odds were far more lopsided when he and four friends ambushed the victim at Willow Park.
While Webb-Rose did not lay his hands on the victim in the savage group attack, he was charged with affray - an offence punishable by up to five years in jail - having "shone a light" on the assault and recorded it on his mobile phone.
The court heard the victim had been sitting in a vehicle with a female friend about 12.25am.
Webb-Rose went with four others, who cannot be named, to the park after the young woman's former partner learned via social media she was there with the victim. After arriving, two members of the group banged on the windows of the car, demanding the pair get out.
Outnumbered five to one, the male victim threw his hands up immediately and backed away, saying he didn't want to fight.
Members of the group then began to assault him. As the victim tried to get away, he was chased and hit multiple times. After being knocked down, he was punched to the back, body and head by two assailants while cowering on the ground.
The victim managed to get up, and was then king hit by a third member of the group. As he again cowered, he was punched to the head.
The victim tried to flee once more but was again chased, with one assailant attempting to run at him with "a flying spinning kick" that missed, as the victim pleaded with them to stop.
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The attack finally ceased when the woman said she had called police.
The victim suffered serious injuries, the court heard, including one completely cracked upper front tooth, as well as damage to three other front teeth.
He needed immediate treatment at Albury's emergency department, and at a dental clinic the day after. The cost of dental treatment was noted by police as more than $6500.
The woman who was with the victim and witnessed the assault had been "terrified" for both the victim and her own safety.
When interviewed on May 12 about the matter, police told the court, Webb-Rose made admissions to the circumstances and told them he had not assaulted the victim.
He admitted to using his phone to shine a light on the attack but denied recording it. Police said he had no regard for the victim or the bystander, expressing limited remorse. He was again questioned in October, when police had in their possession the video that had been recorded.
At that point, he made full admissions to filming the attack.
"My fault for not stopping it, it all happened really fast," he told police.
When questioned in the Koori Court by magistrate Peter Dunn as to why he was involved in the assault, he said "I don't know, I can't really remember ... it was like, three years ago".
"I just remember we were all in a car, we were just driving, I was in the back seat and someone was like, let's go here. It was stupid, I was young."
He told Mr Dunn that the night before he was due to have the affray charge dealt with by the court, he had spoken to one of the members of the group who took part in the assault, and "we were just talking about how bad we feel about it".
"That poor kid ... I think I said to him (his friend), if any of youse did that now I'd go crazy as," he told Mr Dunn. "I just shouldn't have done it."
The assault at a party in Wodonga on July 16 last year was admitted by Webb-Rose.
He had gone to the home in Kyle Court, where there were around 60 people, though he was not invited and a protection order was in place for one of the guests.
Webb-Rose arrived at 11.30pm, and then went and stood beside the protected person for a short time - a breach of the intervention order - before moving away. At her request, a male at the party asked Webb-Rose to leave.
Webb-Rose argued with the man, and struck him in the head with a left punch. He then pursued the victim and hit him twice more, once in the eye and once in the lip. As Webb-Rose left the party, he passed within two metres of the protected person - again contravening the order - and said, "F--- off you stupid sl-t".
He was intercepted soon after by police, and when interviewed told them he understood there was an intervention order in place but that he had not received it, saying he believed police had sent it to the wrong email.
He said police had explained the conditions of the protection order to him in a phone call, and that he understood it meant he was not to be near the protected person.
Questioned about why he was at the party, Webb-Rose said: "Everything was fine, then it was basically like I had walked into an argument. A lot of people screaming at me, telling me I'm not meant to be there ... "
He claimed he was pushed when asked to leave the party and that he had pushed the victim back.
"No one shoves me .. if anyone shoves me I'm going to shove them back," he told police at the time. "I wouldn't call it assault, I'd call it self-defence."
When questioned in court about sending the intimate picture of his former partner to a friend of the woman, which occurred in January last year, magistrate Peter Dunn told Webb-Rose: "That's a bit of a low act isn't it ... no it's not a bit of a low act, it's a very low act."
"Why did you do that?" Mr Dunn asked.
"I dunno ... I dunno, stupidity. I've made a lot of mistakes, I just want to move forward. Leave the court today and never come back," he said.
Webb-Rose said there had been "drama" with the break-up but denied it was "payback" when questioned by Mr Dunn.
"There was a lot of rumours going around about me, I wasn't real happy with," Webb-Rose said.
"I dunno, I don't really remember, it was just so long ago, I don't think about it. Just move forward."
Webb-Rose said "alcohol, rage and no self-control" were to blame for the assault at the party: "I do a lot of stupid stuff when I'm drunk. I've chosen not to drink anymore."
He said there had been recent incidents where people had tried to provoke him but he had been able to walk away.
Webb-Rose spoke to The Border Mail in 2018 about how he had taken up boxing at the age of 14 to get fit for football.
The sport had steered him in a positive direction in life after an incident as a 16-year-old at school where he seriously injured another student in a fight.
"I just want to give it 100 per cent," he said.
In sentencing Webb-Rose, Mr Dunn said it was important he continue to stay "off the grog".
Webb-Rose will have to be of good behaviour for two years - with a special condition that he abstain from alcohol - to avoid the matters returning to court.
For the affray, assault and breaching the intervention order, he was fined $1500. On the charge of distributing the image of his former partner, Mr Dunn fined Webb-Rose $2000, commenting "disgraceful".
"If you are in more trouble, you'll be brought back to court, and a greater penalty imposed," Mr Dunn warned him.
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