Australia - Former senior Coffin Cheater bikie Troy Mercanti's downward spiral quickened yesterday when he was found guilty of grievous bodily harm after knocking out a drunken man in a violent nightclub confrontation.
Mercanti, 41, who was thrown out of the bikie gang in January, could be jailed when he is sentenced on Tuesday after being remanded in custody.
VIDEO: Mercanti's big blow
A District Court jury took 2½ hours to find Mercanti guilty, rejecting his claim he was acting in self defence when he hit 26-year-old Gregory Fistonich, breaking his jaw.
It is the second time this year Mercanti has been convicted of an assault charge. In the District Court in May, he was fined $2000 after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a man in the Coolbellup Hotel. That case could not be reported because of a suppression order which expired yesterday.
Also yesterday, Judge Mary Ann Yeats released security footage from Northbridge's Geisha Bar which showed the violent confrontation between Mercanti and Mr Fistonich about 5.30am on May 13 last year.
Judge Yeats told jurors yesterday to disregard anything they had heard or read about Mercanti prior to the trial. She also warned them to put aside any prejudices they might have about violence in pubs and bikie gangs. They should decide the case solely on the evidence.
Evidence was given that Mr Fistonich and a woman, Michelle Kroon, went to the Geisha Bar hand-in-hand sometime after 5am after meeting a few hours earlier at another pub. Both were heavily intoxicated.
Security vision shows Mr Fistonich moving around the nightclub before approaching Ms Kroon, who was standing at the bar next to Mercanti.
Mr Fistonich said he asked Mercanti if he was going to buy the woman a drink and, not getting a reply, turned to the bar to buy a drink for her. He said he was then punched in the head by Mercanti with the first punch, knocking him unconscious. Ms Kroon testified she could remember little of what happened or was said.
In his evidence, Mercanti said that Mr Fistonich had cut into his conversation with Ms Kroon and asked him if he was going to buy "this f… ing slut" a drink. Mercanti said he was dumbfounded when he was told to "f… off" by Mr Fistonich. They ended up face-to-face and it looked as if the other man wanted a fight, he said.
Mercanti said he felt frightened and intimidated by Mr Fistinoch who was 195cm tall and weighed 120kg. When he saw Mr Fistonich's right arm drop and then rise he thought he was going to be attacked so decided to get in first.
Outside court, Mercanti's barrister Con Heliotis said he was "very surprised" by the verdict, adding: "I thought the evidence was consistent with an acquittal."
Mercanti has also been involved in two other court cases in recent years, both of which ended in not guilty decisions.
In May 2006, five men including Mercanti and organised crime target John Kizon were found not guilty of various charges over a violent incident in the Metro City nightclub in Northbridge in January 2005.
In Fremantle Magistrate's Court in October last year, two charges of assault against Mercanti were dismissed. The charges stemmed from a brawl between three bikies and five bouncers outside the Harbourside nightclub in Fremantle in August 2006.
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