A Sudanese immigrant has been spared jail, a conviction and deportation for his role in a cowardly gang attack on two Australian soldiers in Queensland, after a judge heard he has community leadership potential and aspires to become an NDIS support worker.
Ariek Lual, 22, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm in company in the Toowoomba District Court on Wednesday over the vicious and unprovoked attack by him and five other thugs on the soldiers at a kebab shop in the city centre in August 2024.
CCTV footage played in court showed two of attackers charging into the shop and hitting one of the victims in the back of the head before Lual and the remaining men joined in, kicking and punching the ADF members, who were unable to fight back.
Lual, who is on a temporary visa, admitted kicking one of his victims in the face while he was lying on the floor defenceless, and the court heard one of the soldiers suffered a broken jaw, while the other suffered a severe concussion and temporary amnesia, The Chronicle reported.
The victims did not provide impact statement because they feared reprisal, the court heard.
Another one of the attackers, Atem Gabriel Deng, who repeatedly stomped on the victims’ heads, was sentenced to three months’ jail in January 2025 after pleading guilty to two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm in company and 11 unrelated weapons and drugs charges, the court was told.
Judge Benedict Power KC asked the court why another co-accused had assault charges dismissed despite the clear CCTV footage, but no explanation was given.
The judge noted Lual had provided reference letters saying that the attack was out of character, that he was from a respected Sudanese family with a strong matriarch and values, looked after his siblings, helped organise community events, and had the “potential to be a leader” in his community.
The court also heard that Lual was caught with 18 capsules of MDMA after being arrested following a large street fight in November 2024, but was fined just $500 and was spared a conviction after pleading guilty to drug possession.
Judge Power sentenced Lual to a two-year probation order with no conviction recorded, and ordered him to pay each of his victims $1,000 in compensation and complete 200 hours of community service.
He then warned Lual that any further offending or breach of court orders would result in the recording of a conviction.
Earlier this year another Sudanese man was jailed for just two years for raping a woman in Toowoomba, after a judge described him as a “wonderful young man with a very bright future”.
Header image: Ariek Lual (supplied).
The post African thug spared jail for cowardly gang attack on off-duty soldiers in Queensland first appeared on The Noticer.
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