From the Oz:

Year in prison sought for Cronulla rioter

PROSECUTORS are seeking a one-year jail sentence for a Sydney teenager who repeatedly punched a man in the head on a train during the Cronulla riot.

Brent David Lohman, 19, of Caringbah in Sydney’s south, was among a group of about 12 people who attacked Ali Hashimi on a train at Cronulla railway station on December 11, 2005.

Lohman, who was draped in an Australian flag at the time of the attack, was one of hundreds of people to converge on the station looking for people of Middle Eastern appearance.

The attack was caught on CCTV and by press photographers.

Lohman had pleaded not guilty to rioting, but was convicted of the charge in December last year.

In Sutherland Local Court today, Lohman, wearing a black suit and accompanied by his girlfriend and family, sat quietly as police prosecutor Gary Charlesworth argued for a 12-month jail sentence.

Inspector Charlesworth said Lohman was a key participant in the violence, which he said was motivated by hatred or prejudice.

“The accused was not a bit player,” he told the court.

“I would suggest his role in the incident that occurred on the train clearly … was not a minor role.
“A full time custodial sentence is appropriate.”

But Lohman’s lawyer Les Nicholls argued that 45 days already served in custody was punishment enough.

“(Lohman) had to share a cell with paedophiles and sex offenders,” Mr Nicholls told the court.
“As an 18-year-old … it was not a very pleasant time at all.”

Mr Nicholls said Lohman was a “reluctant participant” in the violence and had joined a group of people heading to the train station simply to see what was going on.

“There is nothing that shows he was itching for a fight,” he said.

Magistrate William Brydon adjourned the case for sentencing on March 15 at Central Local Court.