judgement
Man drops 40 pounds on another’s head in gym – jail sentence
The perpetrator claimed it was an accident (symbol image)
© Nastasic / Getty Images
Shocking gym scene: an athlete drops a 40-pound weight on another’s head. A court has now sentenced him to imprisonment, but was also unable to clarify what exactly was behind the incident.
At first, the scene looks harmless: two men in an otherwise deserted gym in Australia. One lies with his back on the weight bench and does chest exercises. The other carries a weight across the room. But suddenly he stumbles, the 20 kilogram weight plate lands directly and unchecked on the face of the other athlete.
Security camera footage from the gym shows the horrific incident in October 2020. Shane William Ryan, the man with the weight in his hand, claimed in court that it was an accident – he simply stumbled unhappily. The Northern Territory Supreme Court, however, did not believe him. The 33-year-old has now been sentenced to 19 months in prison.
The motive remains unclear
In fact, based on the footage the court released, it’s hard to see why Ryan should have tripped. After hitting the victim with the weight, Ryan held his ankle and called an ambulance. According to the judge, however, the ankle injury was only fake.
“Droping 20 kilograms on the victim’s head was an extremely dangerous act,” the judge said in his verdict, according to news.com.au. “The victim was vulnerable because she was lying on her back with weights in her hand. She couldn’t protect herself.” The apparent lack of motive and the resulting lack of suspicion on the part of the victim weighed particularly heavily for the judge. Perpetrator and victim had previously had a “friendly” relationship: “He had no reason to believe that you would attack him like that.”
At least ten months in prison
The victim had fallen off the bench after the incident and had started bleeding. The man sustained a skull fracture and testified in court that he still needed medical treatment, suffered from anxiety attacks and was taking medication for high blood pressure.
Of the 19 months he was sentenced to by the Supreme Court, Shane William Ryan is serving at least 10 in prison. His previous prison time will be taken into account. He can be released from prison on parole at the end of November at the earliest.
Source: “news.com.au”