Brittany Merrick says she can’t remember the details of the Boxing Day attack, which left her unconscious and now, swollen and covered in bruises.
“I actually came to hearing my flatmate scream, it was such a horrible, horrible scream,” Ms Merrick told Fairfax.
“I could feel something wet on my skin but I couldn’t open my eyes, it didn’t take me long to work out it was blood.”
The 22-year-old and her flatmate, Brittany Norris, were on a night out in Newcastle, when the pair allegedly fell victim to an unprovoked attack by a man they had met through friends.
Shaun Rudder, 26, allegedly spat in Merrick’s face at a nightclub in the Hunter Valley before she pushed him over and both parties were ejected from the club.
Walking home, she says she received a series of text messages from him, one which said “behind you”, before being attacked in the street.
The Newcastle Local court heard that Rudder first knocked Norris to the ground, before repeatedly punching Merrick in the face, leaving her unconscious and with a probable fractured jaw.
She spent the night in the John Hunter Hospital, but is now recovering at home with her boyfriend.
Merrick posted a disturbing photo of her injuries on her Facebook page, which was shared almost 16,000 times.
Charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, Rudder was granted bail in court, prompting an angry backlash from social media users.
“I couldn’t imagine the pain, struggle, confusion, disbelief and every other emotion your [sic] feeling right now,” one user wrote.
“It’s all a bit shocking,” Ms Merrick told Fairfax.
“I didn’t think it would be shared that many times let alone the things people are saying.”
Top Comments
Oh dear. She must've insulted him. Maybe he's normally not that oversensitive but can't handle alcohol or drugs that well: It's weird enough that a grown adult has a hissy fit and spits (drink? Bio-rich saliva?) at someone but then, when she retaliates with a shove, causing his public pratfall (no injuries mentioned), he has a massive sook. That sulk continues long after the initial altercation, so he goes full drama-queen, and hunts her down to bash her into bloody unconsciousness.
Hopefully his bail depends on him returning zero on blood alcohol/drugs tests. And counselling. Me, I think pacifism sounds appealing.
So the topic is how violence can escalate.
A few days ago there was a story about a women being pinched on the bum and she escalated the situation as she punched the guy so he was unconscious and left lying limply on the floor.
The response both here and on Facebook was unanimous, you go girl, I would have kicked him in the nuts, it's lucky he is still alive, if he did that to me he'd be dead if he did that to me, he deserved it and so on, there were hundreds of responses. A pinch on the bum warrants being punched till you are out cold.
I don't agree with reacting with violence or either action here, it is interesting to note the different responses for what is essentially the same assault though.
The same assault? You are kidding right?
I would have thought it was self defence what she did, and don't forget women in her country are treated like shit ( and that's an understatement) so it feels especially gratifying when you see a woman defend herself so well
It is VERY likely she has been sexually assaulted on many occasions, so give her some credit, she's awesome.
you're not daring to suggest a double standard based on if it happens to a man, good, if it happens to a woman, bad?
Some people aren't comfortable with such a line of thought.
Lol, do you wear your patch over your left eye or right eye?
Woman punches man, inspirational. Man punches woman, monster. Check.
Both cases involved someone punching someone else and escalating the violence, so yes, it is the same.
Your justifications for retaliatory violence in special circumstances which you deem appropriate has made my point far better than I did. Are you male, because you are using the standard defence used by violent men.