Australia - AN argument over who was going to buy a woman a drink was the reason high-profile Perth bikie Troy Mercanti punched a man at a nightclub, breaking his jaw, a court heard today.
Mr Mercanti is standing trial on a charge of grievous bodily harm after allegedly punching Gregory Fistonich at Geisha Bar in Perth's nightclub district in May last year.
Mr Mercanti's lawyer Con Heliotis told a jury in Perth's District Court that there was no dispute over whether Mr Mercanti punched Mr Fistonich.
He said the only issue was whether Mr Fistonich said or did something to cause his client to punch Mr Fistonich, resulting in him receiving a broken jaw.
Giving evidence yesterday, Mr Fistonich denied provoking the former Coffin Cheater member. Standing at the bar with a woman he had seen earlier at another nightclub, Mr Fistonich said had a brief conversation with Mr Mercanti before he was punched.
"I think I said, 'are you going to buy her a drink'," Mr Fistonich said. "He continued to look at me and I said 'one of us is going to have to buy her a drink'."
But Mr Mercanti's lawyer argued that Mr Fistonich swore at Mr Mercanti and claimed that the woman, Michelle Kroon, was his girlfriend.
"You said to him, 'I have told you twice, she's my f... girlfriend, now f... off'," Mr Heliotis said. The court was shown video footage of the incident which happened around 5.30am on Sunday, May 13.
It was clearly visible that Mr Mercanti punched Mr Fistonich. Two security guards were then seen grabbing Mr Fistonich and escorting him from the bar.
Taking the stand yesterday, Ms Kroon said she could not remember much about the incident because it happened so quickly and in the early hours of the morning.
She denied being Mr Fistonich's girlfriend or being physically interested in him. "It was quite late and all my times were wrong," she said.
"It was a brief encounter."
The trial continues.
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