Overview

• Magistrate Janine Lacy convicted Penikolo Latu of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
• CCTV, officers’ body-worn camera footage and Latu’s police interview were played in Newcastle Local Court.
• The punch inside Newcastle’s King Street Hotel in March left officer Aaron Barnett with a fractured eye socket, a brain bleed, a chipped tooth and bruising.
• Latu had pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defence, but the court found his response exceeded what was reasonable.
• He left the scene and was arrested hours later, and he now plans to appeal the conviction.