Alleged attacker acquitted in court
A MAN accused of attacking his neighbour at an Ipswich train station and in his front yard has been acquitted by a jury.
Cory Malcolm Szolna, 20, pleaded not guilty to four counts of assault occasioning bodily harm at trial at Ipswich District Court and was acquitted on Wednesday afternoon.
The trial went for seven days before Judge Sarah Bradley.
Crown prosecutor John Copley had told the jury Szolna and the victim, 42, had been neighbours in Leichhardt and while at first friends, there had been building animosity.
On July 30, 2010, the victim caught a train from Wulkuraka to visit his daughter in Woodridge when Szolna boarded the train too.
The pair was heavily intoxicated, the defence said, and the victim was carrying a cask-wine bladder.
In giving evidence to the jury, the 42-year-old victim said as he walked onto the platform he was struck in the face and fell into the carriage.
He testified the accused continued to bash the victim, and he lost three teeth and suffered numerous cuts and bruising from the fight.
On November 17, the jury was told Szolna confronted his neighbours in his front yard as the victim cooked a barbecue for his family, heavily-pregnant eldest daughter and her boyfriend.
The victim testified he and his daughter's boyfriend were set upon by the gang which including the accused.
The victim said he was punched repeatedly to the head while on the ground and lost consciousness for a few seconds.
