Chinese student jailed for Sydney bat attack he thought was ordered by Beijing

An international student has been jailed over a baseball bat attack in Sydney he told police he carried out in the belief he was working on behalf of the Chinese government.

Zheming “Tommy” Zhang, 23, was sentenced to two years and nine months’ imprisonment in the NSW District Court this month with a non-parole period of one year and eight months for bashing a man in his Matraville home and targeting another man in Maroubra.

He was arrested in Tasmania for unrelated offences and extradited to Sydney where he pleaded guilty to aggravated entry into a dwelling with intent (and intentionally inflicting bodily harm), and aggravated entry into a dwelling with intent to intimidate, The Daily Telegraph reported.

According to court documents Zhang told NSW Police he thought he was working on a “top secret” mission for the Shanghai Police Department but later realised he had been the victim of an elaborate scam.

Zhang told police he was contacted by a person claiming to be from Telstra in Melbourne in 2023 who told him his phone was being used to commit fraud and that he had to contact police in Shanghai, and when he did a person who identified himself as a sergeant told him there was a warrant out for his arrest.

The Brisbane-based student said he denied being involved in criminal activity but offered to help the police when the man threatened his father, and then paid a $20,000 bond which he believed would prevent him from being arrested when he returned the China.

The fake police officer then told Zhang he needed to help the Chinese government in Australia, and instructed him to fly to Sydney in June of the same year to attack an elderly Australian government employee who was a “pervert” and had been “disrespectful” to the Shanghai police, Zhang claimed.

Zhang told police he had believed he had been instructed to attack the victim in a “formal declarement” saying “armed charges permitted”, according to court documents.

At the same time, the victim had been contacted on Skype by people claiming to be Chinese police and was told a special officer would be visiting his home, resulting in him immediately letting Zhang inside when he turned up.

Zhang then used a baseball bat he brought with him to hit the man twice over the head and on the body, legs and arms, leaving him bleeding extensively and unconscious.

The victim was hospitalised for two weeks as a result of the attack.

The next month Zhang was instructed to target the second man in the same way at a home in Maroubra, but did not attack him, instead telling him to bandage his head, video call his parents, and tell them he needed money because he was in “real danger”.

Zhang will be eligible for release in May next year.

Header image: Zheming Zhang (supplied).

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