A nightclub bouncer was convicted in September by a local court for attacking a U.S. Marine in 2021 in Darwin, Australia.
Hayden Robert Bruce Summers, 34, was found guilty on Sept. 2 by a Northern Territory Supreme Court jury for “unlawfully causing serious harm,” according to a Tweet from the court.
After only four hours, the Australian jury unanimously found the bouncer to be guilty. His sentencing hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, Xavier La Canna, a spokesman for the court, confirmed in an email to Marine Corps Times.
Summers will serve behind bars for three months, according to an Australia’s ABC news, before spending nine months in home detention. The nightclub bouncer received a partially suspended prison sentence of three years and six months for his actions.
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The incident between Summers and the Marine, who the Australian outlet ABC identified as Glen Thomason, occurred outside Darwin’s Monsoons nightclub in the early hours of April 11, 2021.
Closed-circuit TV footage that captured a video of the altercation was shared with Marine Corps Times from the court.
It shows the Marine, who reportedly had been ejected from the bar, swinging an arm toward Summers before the bouncer then struck him in the head, causing him to fall to the ground.
The U.S. Marine’s injuries led to a “significant amount of time” in a hospital and in rehabilitation after having part of his skull removed, the Australia broadcaster reported.
Summers, who according to the broadcaster had worked 15 years in the industry and was the head of security at the nightclub, pleaded not guilty.
During the trial, according to ABC, witnesses testified that during the interaction between the two men Thomason was heard saying “I could kill you, I’m a Marine,” or similar words to that effect.
His team argued, however, that the bouncer’s actions were unreasonable and that he failed to pursue other ways to de-escalate the situation.
At Summers’ sentencing hearing, the court justice reportedly said, “You appear genuinely shocked and sorry about the level of injury. Although the slap was intentional, the type of injury was not.”
Exactly what Thomason’s duties were in Australia remain unclear at this time.
A Marine rotational force in Darwin participates each year in six months of training missions, with this year’s rotation including 2,200 Marines, according to Stars & Stripes, which also reported that Thomason was not a member of this year’s rotation.
This incident is not the only recent altercation at a bar in which a Marine or Marine veteran has been injured.
On Aug. 16, 2021, while out for a friend’s birthday at Gallery Art Bar in Oakland, California, Marine veteran Mahmoud Berte allegedly was shot 10 times, according to KTVU FOX 2.
Four shots struck him in his right leg, three in his stomach and another three in his left leg, which reportedly needed to be amputated, he said.
“I’m a human being. I served this country. I deserve justice,” Berte said to the local outlet.
He has filed a lawsuit against the bar for allegedly not having safety measures in place. A GoFundMe page to help cover Berte’s expenses has raised just over $14,000 as of Tuesday morning.
A spokesperson from Marine Rotational Force–Darwin was not immediately available for comment.
Jonathan is a staff writer and editor of the Early Bird Brief newsletter for Military Times. Follow him on Twitter @lehrfeld_media
