Paul Kent receives sentence following street fight
Former News Corp rugby league columnist Paul Kent has narrowly escaped a conviction and was sentenced to a two-year good behaviour bond for his role in a street brawl that saw him thrown into a tree stump, break six ribs, and suffer a collapsed lung.
Kent pleaded guilty and was charged with one court of affray after failing to have the matter quashed under mental health considerations.
He appeared before Magistrate Jennifer Price in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday, who took into account his serious injuries and that Kent “has come off significantly worse than the co-accused, having suffered quite severe injuries”.
In late April, Kent was walking home from a Rozelle pub after an 11-hour drinking session where a verbal stout with a passerby quickly turned into a violent fight.
A widely-shared video showed Kent being thrown into the stump of a tree, after which News Corp Australia and Fox Sports, for which he appears on the popular NRL 360 panel show, confirmed Kent had been “stood down pending an immediate investigation”.
This week, News Corp confirmed it had officially terminated Kent’s contact. Foxtel declined to comment when asked if Kent had also been let go from his TV commitments.
According to news.com.au, the court heard on Wednesday that the co-accused, Tamer Uzu, mentioned that Kent likes “to bash women”, referring to a 2023 allegation that he choked and assaulted a former partner; a charge for which he was found not guilty.
Price took into account that numerous people tried to start Kent from elevating the disagreement.
“People have tried to stop you and a security guard tried to get involved,” Price said, while taking into account Kent’s claims he was going through a depressive episode and drinking heavily.
Uzun was also charged with affray, but has pled not guilty.
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Nathan Jolly is the Deputy Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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