Suspended term for lying over attack on Irishman
Chantel Taia, 19, of Matraville, Sydney, was ordered to serve a nine-month suspended jail sentence and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond after pleading guilty with concealing an offence and hindering police investigating the assault on David Keohane, from Cork, in Coogee, Sydney, on August 9.
She was scared she would lose her boyfriend of six years if she told police of his involvement in the assault, a court heard yesterday.
However, police discovered she was called repeatedly from a mobile phone stolen from the assault victim.
Mr Keohane, 29, who had been working in Sydney as a flooring contractor, was found lying on a street on August 9 with serious head injuries.
He has been in a coma since the attack, and was taken back to Ireland by his family last month where he remains in a coma in Cork University Hospital.
Taia’s boyfriend, Thomas Isaako, 19, has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated robbery with wounding.
Documents before the court showed a mobile phone stolen from Mr Keohane was used to call Taia 18 times between August 9 and August 12. When approached by police, she denied knowing Mr Keohane or recognising the number that had called her. Police then tapped her phone and took her in for questioning.
Taia, a fashion merchandiser, was charged on September 30 with hindering police and she admitted what she knew of the assault.
A 39-year-old man has also been charged with hindering police and concealing a serious offence over the attack. He is due in court on November 19.
