Former NRL rising star Manase Fainu has been jailed for at the least 4 years and three months for stabbing a church youth chief exterior a Mormon charity occasion in Sydney.
The previous Manly Sea Eagles hooker was discovered responsible in August of wounding Faamanu Levi with intent to trigger grievous bodily hurt at Wattle Grove late at night time on October 25, 2019.
In his proof to the Parramatta District Courtroom jury, he denied being the stabber, saying when he heard "knife, knife" he ran away scared for his personal security.
The jury took about two hours to ship its verdict.
Decide Nanette Williams on Friday jailed him for eight years with a non-parole interval of 4 years and three months.
He'll first be eligible for parole on October 30, 2026.
The decide discovered no proof of regret however stated he had good prospects of rehabilitation.
His barrister Margaret Cunneen SC beforehand stated Fainu would enchantment "the perverse verdict in view of the proof".
One witness testified to seeing Fainu plunge a steak knife into the again of Levi within the automotive park brawl, referring to him wanting offended and sporting a sling.
The jury was informed the footballer had not too long ago undergone shoulder surgical procedure and had his arm in a sling that night.
The stabbing occurred after an earlier struggle on the dancefloor of the alcohol-free charity occasion organised by the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
The jurors had been informed Fainu and a pal referred to as "Huge Buck" had been concerned within the struggle and ushered exterior by Levi, who informed them to not struggle on church grounds.
CCTV footage confirmed Fainu with a white towel draped over his head and his 4 associates leaping again over a fence and into a carpark the place the brawl occurred with Levi.
He informed the jury the white towel draped over his head was a "safety blanket" doused in chilly water as a result of he had a headache, to not cover his id.
In unsuccessfully making use of for him to stay on bail after the decision, Cunneen stated her consumer had skilled extreme psychological sickness together with despair, nervousness and suicidal ideas due to the trial and verdict.
She stated he had been thought of a extremely promising rugby league participant in 2018 who was on monitor to earn a large wage to help his dad and mom and eight surviving siblings.
This was all stripped away as soon as he was charged, because of the Nationwide Rugby League's no fault stand down coverage.
"It is a man who has suffered a most monumental downfall, an unthinkable downfall in what he could have anticipated in 2019," she stated.