The man who bashed a father-of-three, leaving him with life-shattering injuries and in a permanent invalid state, had his conviction overturned in Sydney yesterday.
It was a nerve-wracking day for the family and friends of wheelchair-bound Tom Biviano yesterday as they waited for the decision on Beau Lawton’s sentence appeal.
Lawton was sentenced to six years behind bars in March last year after he punched Mr Biviano who tried to break up a street brawl at Ken Tubman Drive in Maitland on October 31, 2009.
Lawton, of Rutherford, was 19 at the time.
He later pleaded guilty in Newcastle District Court to causing grievous bodily harm, but was released on bail after serving only six months in prison following changes to the law which allowed him to appeal his sentence.
His solicitor said the Blackwell decision, based on a glassing situation, stated that the offender did not have the foresight to understand the consequences or damage of their actions, and that this was applicable to Lawton’s case.
Lawton’s case was heard in the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday where his conviction was quashed.
The matter will now return to the district court at a date to be set.
Mr Biviano, a former plasterer, is now in the full-time care of his mother Shirley Young.
Ms Young said yesterday she was disturbed knowing that the appeal was taking place.
“Justice hasn’t been served,” she said. “[Lawton] can carry on with his life and Tom can’t. He got out [of jail], Tom will never get out [of his injured state].”
Ms Young said she felt uneasy knowing she could come across Lawton in Maitland now he had been released.
“I don’t like the fear that I could go into Maitland and run into him,” she said. “I would feel very sick seeing him, knowing that he has the privilege that Tom doesn’t.”
Under his original sentence, Lawton would not have been eligible for parole until December 2014.
The community rallied together in November last year to build a wheelchair-friendly house for Mr Biviano in Heddon Greta.
Mr Biviano was forced to sell his home to pay for ongoing medical expenses after the attack.
Ms Young said she was eternally grateful for the new house which had a big impact on Mr Biviano's well-being.
An online petition, Justice for Tom Biviano, was created in November and now has 278 signatures.
A Facebook page with the same title has more than 200 likes and is peppered with comments from friends and family expressing their disappointment in the appeal.
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