A former Tongan Test rugby player who knocked out an off-duty police officer with a "devastating" single punch at King Street Hotel last year has had his conviction overturned on appeal.
Judge Roy Ellis on Tuesday found Penikolo Latu, now 33, was acting in self-defence when he suddenly threw a right hook into the jaw of a stranger near the dance floor of the hotel in the early hours of March 1, 2025.
Latu, who was a Junior All Black and played nine tests for his native Tonga, had last year been found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm after a hearing in Newcastle Local Court.
Latu had denied the charge and claimed he was acting in self-defence when he threw the punch after a brief altercation with the victim, Aaron Barnett, and his friend.
Mr Barnett was immediately knocked unconscious by the savage blow and he fell to the ground suffering a fractured eye socket, a bleed to the brain and a chipped tooth.
Latu later avoided a jail term and was placed on a 10-month intensive correction order with 200 hours of community service.
The 33-year-old lodged an appeal against the conviction and sentence.
On Thursday in Newcastle District Court, his barrister Daniel McMahon again claimed Latu had been acting in self-defence.
CCTV footage shows Latu stepped up onto a stage near the dance floor about 1.30am before Mr Barnett's friend spoke to him.
Things appeared to get heated, and as Latu went to walk off, Mr Barnett reached out and either touched or pushed Latu on the arm.
Within seconds, Latu swiped the hand away and launched a single punch into the jaw of Mr Barnett, knocking him unconscious and sending him sprawling to the ground.
Mr Barnett gave evidence during the local court hearing that he had intervened to de-escalate the situation and was trying to prevent a fight from happening.
After listening to submissions and repeatedly watching footage of the moments leading up to the punch, Judge Ellis initially said that what Latu did by turning and striking Mr Barnett when he could have walked away was not a reasonable response in the circumstances.
He said there were no threats coming from Mr Barnett and he did not have his hands up ready to throw a punch.
"The issue I have is that he is walking away, he gets touched but there is nothing to stop him from continuing to walk away," Judge Ellis said.
"But he turns and literally in the same motion as he is turning he is starting that punch.
"It is consistent with it being done in anger."
Judge Ellis repeatedly questioned how what Latu did could be considered a reasonable response in the circumstances, and said if Latu had been sober then he wouldn't have thrown a punch.
"That tells you something about whether or not it is reasonable or not," Judge Ellis said.
"Your client says he is acting in fear.
"He doesn't look to fearful to me."
However, after the lunch adjournment, Judge Ellis returned to the bench having re-watched the CCTV footage.
He said he could see Mr Barnett had made a "come on" motion after Latu swiped at his hand and dropped a drink, and said it was reasonable that Latu's perception was that the motion was a "come on" to fight and that he was about to be hit.
Judge Ellis admitted to "vacillating" on his position throughout the day but ultimately upheld the appeal, quashing the conviction and sentence.
He stressed that in a self-defence case the prosecution must disprove beyond reasonable doubt that what a person did was not reasonable in the circumstances as they perceived them.
"In my view he should have simply stepped back and put up his hands and tried to placate Mr Barnett," Judge Ellis said.
"But was striking first, leaving aside how effective it was, a reasonable response in the circumstances as he perceived them?
"Could it be said that it was not a reasonable response?
"The answer is that it can't be said.
"Therefore the Crown has not proved self-defence."
