A former operations manager of the West Coast Wilderness Railway punched a former friend and rail contractor after an argument got out of hand at the Mud Bar restaurant, a hearing in the Launceston Magistrates Court heard.
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Frank Vincze, 50, formerly of Queenstown, pleaded not guilty to the common assault of Wisam Soleiman on September 10, 2020.
Mr Soleiman, 47, who had known Mr Vincze for eight years, was a supplier of sleepers and railway track to the Wilderness Railway.
The court heard that Mr Vincze drove from Queenstown to meet Mr Soleiman, his brother Hassan and a friend Riccardo Pizzo, 38, in Launceston. They had all been in COVID-19 quarantine in Devonport for two weeks.
Mr Soleiman's party had drinks at Alchemy at lunchtime, then the Star Bar and then went to the Mud Bar for dinner.
Witnesses told police prosecutor Amit Sharma that Mr Vincze became upset when Mr Pizzo left the table to talk to two women at an adjoining table.
Mr Pizzo said that Mr Vincze told the party that they were representing the Wilderness Railway and the Government and that there could be repercussions for not abiding by COVID protocols.
Evidence was given that Wasim Soleiman and Mr Pizzo ignored Mr Vincze request to come back to the table.
Mr Hassan Soleiman rated Mr Pizzo and his brother as 7 out of 10 on intoxication scale and said he had seen Mr Vincze have more than one drink.
Mr Vincze, now a network locomotive driver with Rio Tinto in the Pilbara, gave evidence that he was embarrassed by the behaviour in the restaurant.
"How would you describe Mr Pizzo?," defence counsel Patrcick O' Halloran asked.
"A Ladies Man," Mr Vincze said.
After the tension rose at the table the party went outside where Mr Suleiman and Mr Vincze exchanged loud abuse.
Mr Vincze said Mr Soleiman told him: "We have just spent two weeks in iso, Ricardo is my best mate, no one is going to tell my best mate how to behave."
Mr Pizzo gave evidence that he stood between the two men but said he was focused on Mr Vincze.
"He [Mr Vincze] said he was going to f---ing smash him," Mr Pizzo said.
Mr Vincz gave evidence that Mr Soleiman said that he could stick the railway and his contract up his arse.
He said Mr Soleiman threatened him saying he had connections in the Lebanese community and an outlaw motorcycle gang.
In his evidence Mr Soleiman said "absolutely not" when it was suggested that he had swung a left and right blow at Mr Vincze before he was hit.
"I would not hit the man that gave me contracts," he said.
Mr Pizzo said that when he was between the two men he heard a blow land.
Mr Vincze said that he had unintentionally struck Mr Soleiman with a left hand when he ducked under Mr Pizzo's arm.
The court heard that Mr Soleiman suffered a fractured cheekbone and broken nose and was taken to the Launceston General Hospital by ambulance.
Mr Vincze said he had next seen the group two weeks later.
Mr Pizzo said Mr Vincze made a cheeky joke about playing the Rocky theme song after what happened.
Mr Vincze told the court that he first met Mr Soleiman when his firm Wealth Creation Solutions refinanced his home mortgage.
He said he had also invested his self managed superannuation fund with Mr Soleiman's company but had never received the returns that he had hoped for.
"How did the company come to get involved in the railway, it seems a unusual combination," Magistrate Simon Brown asked.
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Mr Vincze said that the company accessed rails from China because steel prices had risen..
Under cross examination by Mr O' Halloran, Mr Soleiman agreed that the relationship soured and on March 11, 2021 he was told that his contract was terminated.
"Is that why there was a delay in making a complaint [to police]?," he asked
"Was the complaint sour grapes?" Mr Soleiman denied the suggestion.
The court heard that in March 2021, the West Coast Wilderness Railway received an invoice from Mr Soleiman's company, Sair Nominees, for $118,000.
Magistrate Simon Brown adjourned the case for decision on March 3, 2023.
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Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
