‘The judge did the right thing, the decent thing, the only thing’
“The injuries sustained by the victim can only be described as horrendous and have had serious consequences for him and his family.”
These were the words spoken by Judge Ronald Soloman in the New South Wales District Court as he sentenced Thomas Isaako, 21, to serve at least 14 years in prison for the attack on David, along with an assault on another man nine days later.
It was clear the judge understood not just the extent of the injuries inflicted but also the psychological trauma caused to David and his family. “The savage attack in a matter of moments tragically changed the course of the victim’s life from that of a successful, independent, young man to that of a dependent person confined to a wheelchair,” he said.
The savage assault involved indiscriminate and unprompted violence, the kind of blink-of-an-eye brain-snaps which terrify every parent, where an innocent young man was jumped, beaten and left for dead.
How would the justice system in Australia respond? At the trial for attempted murder, David’s sister, Carol, read a poignant victim impact statement to the jury. “I remember during the time he was in a coma my sister Sinéad and I ringing his voicemail just to hear the sound of his voice,” she said.
“It was soul-destroying and heartbreaking to see such a fit and active young man travel back to Ireland unconscious with no control over his body and no awareness that he was even leaving Australia and the successful life he had built.”
As far as the Keohanes were concerned, Aussie justice failed them in the first instance last March when a jury recorded a not guilty verdict to a charge of attempted murder. David’s parents saw it as an insult to their son, a decision which failed to understand, let alone reflect the magnitude of the crime against him. His aunt, Joy, described the verdict as “unreal” and said it had come as a great shock to everyone.
But Isaako was not about the get away scot free. He had pleaded guilty to robbery and grievous bodily harm, so the rest was entirely up to the judge.
Would his sentence reflect public disgust at the attack? Would it bolster community standards of behaviour? This time, the Australian justice system came up trumps.
“He did the right thing, the decent thing, the only thing,” said David’s father, Tom, after the verdict was announced. “He could not have done more.”
David’s uncle, Michael, 50, who lives in Boston, said the family felt a collective sense of relief at the verdict.
“It’s not full closure, because there is still a guy out there who also attacked David and hasn’t been caught yet, but at least it’s partial closure.
“The police in Sydney are doing everything they can to find him and bring him to justice and we won’t find peace until that happens. However, we have nothing but admiration for their ongoing efforts in that respect.”
That praise was echoed by David’s, father, Tom, who watched the court proceedings via video link with his wife Rita and daughter Carol. As the events in the Sydney courtroom unfolded, he said: “I don’t think anyone realises what we have been through over the past 18 months.
“There is, of course, a certain amount of relief at the sentence and we feel the judge has done the right thing by giving this guy a hefty sentence, but the reality is when he and his accomplice attacked David, they gave him a life sentence. David is doing well at the moment, but it is a long, hard road for him and all of us. He is undergoing some cognitive rehabilitation work at the moment and I am helping him with the physical slog but it’s tough going.”
David has said he would like to return to Australia where he ran a successful flooring business but, according to Tom, he still has a long way to go.
“David is doing great and he is handling things very well but he won’t be able to walk like a normal person for a long time to come. The recovery is a slow process and although he wants to go back to Australia that will depend on how the doctors think he is doing. He will be on medication for the foreseeable future and, as the experts have told us, every head injury case is unique, so we will just have to wait and see.”
The savage attack on David Keohane made national headlines in Australia 2008 when the flooring contractor was jumped, robbed and savagely beaten outside a western Sydney pub by two men, 21-year-old Thomas Isaako, and New Zealander Kane Desmond Tupuolamaoui, who is still on the run.
David was punched in the head 14 times. Isaako was drunk and high on crystal meth.
Asked how he felt about the man put behind bars for the attack on his son, Tom Keohane was resolute: “I never want to hear of that man again and I never want to see his name unless it’s on a gravestone.”
