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Coleman, left, facing prison, Davo, right, dead, after alleged late-night fracas. | Photo: Davo photo by Ithaka Darin Pappas

Man accused of killing surfing great Chris Davison hit with second charge of “intentionally choking person without consent” as Kelly Slater writes moving tribute, “Lost another soldier yesterday. One of the most naturally talented surfers I ever knew.”

Tough minimum sentencing laws mean Grant “Grub” Coleman faces a minimum sixteen years if found guilty of killing the surf star.

The man arrested over the alleged one-punch killing of the wildly talented surf prodigy Chris Davidson has been hit with a second charge of “intentionally choking a person without consent”. 

Davidson, forty-five, was allegedly punched in the face by Grant “Grub” Coleman outside the South West Rocks Country Club at around eleven pm on Saturday, September 24. Davo fell, hit his head on the pavement, lights out. It’s such a common event in Australia, a country that has wrestled with violent booze-fuelled attacks for its modern existence, that many bars now feature sponge rubber outside their doors.

Sources close to BeachGrit allege the pair had a run-in at the bar and that Coleman was allegedly thrown out by the club’s security.

Anyway, paramedics treated Davo at the scene and he was taken to Kempsey Hospital but pronounced dead a short time later.

Coleman, a junior footy coach in the coastal hamlet five hours north of Sydney, was arrested at his nearby home thirty minutes after the attack and hit with the initial charge of “assaulting Davidson causing his death.”

Coleman, who is forty-two, was refused bail and has been remanded to Sydney’s notorious Silverwater prison. 

Last time I was at there visiting a pal another inmate was getting murdered. As I strolled out of the gates, happy to feel the sun on my face and with the freedom to jump in a car and drive thirty clicks back to the beach, an ambulance was roaring into the compound to pick up the bloodied corpse. 

Many years earlier, I visited the Surf Travel Co founder turned drug smuggler Paul King at the same prison.

Gonna be tough for Coleman. 

The charge of “assault causing death” is one of those rare offences where minimum sentences apply, the law coming into play after a series of highly publicised attacks where men were killed after being belted, all late at night, all alcohol fuelled. 

If Coleman pleads guilty or found guilty of “assault causing death” he faces a max of twenty years in prison, twenty-five, if he was intoxicated, with a minimum sixteen year total sentence, eight of ‘em in full-time custody. 

Kelly Slater, who famously lost to Davo in two consecutive heats at Bells Beach in 1996, wrote “Lost another soldier yesterday. One of the most naturally talented surfers I ever knew.”

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Pauly Matt War-Shore

I didn’t ever say that I think pot is good for kids, or good for anyone for that matter. This started cos I said that it would never come close to the scourge that alcohol is. There is a huge amount of research that would agree with that, as opposed to your opinion, which appears to be informed by fundamentalist christians, scientologists, and wowsers. I’m sorry that weed didn’t agree with your kids, it doesn’t agree with me either, but you’re letting personal experience and highly suspect and/or refutable information cloud your judgment. Also, they’re not gonna legalise marijuana use for children, so settle down.

Pauly Matt War-Shore

Hahahahaha! That Narconon site has a page devoted to L Ron Hubbard, and the other one’s patron is Margaret Court! Hahahaha! I’ll get to the finer points of why both the sites you’ve got your “information” from are absurd shortly. Working atm.

PRN

This is why we should all carry guns.

Steve Canyon

He will be welcomed by the “boys”. if he think he is tough, just wait.

Wes Smith

What a buzzkill. RIP. No winners. Stop drinking, at least going to bars, everything will improve, I didn’t believe it either;) Good luck 🤙🏼

Black-Haired Andy

I’m a 24 hour a day caregiver for my brain damaged, invalid wife.
100% due to Alcoholism, Narcissism and Denial.
God gave her a King Punch to her brain to get our attention.
It worked!
Alcohol is a distilled spirit that WILL consume your spirit. One drop at a time!
Not looking for any fucking sympathy here……………………

Pauly Matt War-Shore

Geez, you came in hot. I wasn’t even having a go at you, but that’s a classic thing to say when you believe something that’s been thoroughly debunked. I could’ve linked any large number of links, just went with that. I tell you what, you show me these “recent studies”, then we’ll see who’s the stupid one.

Pauly Matt War-Shore

Untrue. Made up by right wing grifters. https://www.mediamatters.or…

toofattosurf

what is with ozzies and facepunching btw? it seems a lame cultural treat to take pride on like you folks often do on this pages…

Tom

Said my piece previously – RIP and sadness all round!! Absolutely no winners here.
I’m still gutted
My childhood ruined by alcohol – no violence luckily but sadness my whole life -it doesn’t go away – so I can’t imagine what they will all go through both sides

Perhaps any cunt showing aggressiveness at a pub could be mandated to wear boxing gloves – fucking strap them to hisor her hands for the night – they would learn pretty quick
1) stand out like a tool – imagine trying to pick up and have any sensible chat with anyone?
2) try drinking piss while wearing massive gloves – won’t get too many in
3) try having a piss wearing gloves – after pissing your pants numerous times be quickly the laughing stock of the night
Then lastly have a ring out the back where could set up the dumb cunts to fight each other if they still showing aggressive tendencies.
Be a controlled fight club
Or
How about we look out for each other, bit mutual respect and love, drink with mates that will look out for you and others too, frown on anti social behavior, zero tolerance on aggressiveness!!
If you can’t do it drink at fucking home solo

tim_nelsen

had the ultimate bully in grades 1 thru 7…gatekeepers and nuns kept him next to me…cause he behaved…not only in class and at adjacent desks

we competed in school, on the playgrounds, and in Little League Baseball…and in the upper parking lot…”Are you crying?”

In a duel no-hitter as 12-year olds we both pitched…me Tigres, Chris Red Sox…

I homered off that asshole in the bottom of the 6th for the win…

NEGATRON

Great honest Ain’t that swell podcast about Davo https://podcasts.apple.com/…

Chief Hot stuff

Pass.

Beach Grits n Eggs

Your loss

Chief Hot stuff

Lemme guess
Macrodose vegan organic mushhies on toast with a side of hugs

Surfer

You should ask a few more questions about what happened prior to this incident. It is not what it appears.

NEGATRON

Not my place to ask, but I’m sure there’ll be no major surprises just more bollocks.

Surfer

Just ask Stuart Cadden what happened at his house.

NEGATRON

Stuart’s spoken to the media about Davo’s death.

Surfer

Yes and he said he was a friend of Davo’s. When you say in a previous response “not my place to ask”, it is actually to report on the facts. Fact was Davo was a incredible surfer and had recently done some very bad things.

NEGATRON

I’m a Plumber. My “place” is to unblock toilets. So you can drop the whole Scooby Doo Mystery machine vibes and just spit out what you want to say.
But like I said earlier I highly doubt there’ll will be anyone surprised that Davo was involved in some drama.

Italo Post Heat Interview

Two lives ruined. I feel most sad for their families. Imagine being 40 something with kids at home and mincing round a joint like that on saturday night… Nothing really good comes of it

HandJamTurpel

Alcohol, always fucking alcohol. What other drug (other than meth maybe?) causes people to become violent assholes? On the street, at home with the family, etc etc

Waterproof Polo

Yep. The worst. And it’s a legal, state sponsored drug that is normalised at a young age. Australia’s relationship with booze is a problem.

Brutus

imagine that pubs have rubber mats outside so when you get knocked out , your head hit the rubber!
FFS , so the pubs allow drunken fighting etc………..by showing a duty of care to those who get knocked out…huh???

Waterproof Polo

Indeed.. Talk about dodging any responsibility for serving people into a parro state, and just letting em have their head bounced! Fuck booze!

ricmatic

I would bet there has never been a coward punch thrown sober.

Capt Sensible

Speed hence why bikies were so agreesive in the 1970s

Brutus

speed is meth…still very aggro today!

Chazz Michael Michaels

This shit gives me nightmares.

ricmatic

My brother got put in a coma from a one hit (also by a rugby player) he’s never been the same since.
Look no further than alcohol as the problem.

Coyote Belly

Had a close friend leaving Yogi’s in Cardiff(when it was still next to Seaside Market) one evening. He had met a friend for a couple drinks after work, wasn’t drunk, and didn’t get into any type of confrontation inside the bar. He was walking to his car when some random dude came out from the shadow between two parked cars and sucker punched him for no reason. He was instantly knocked out, but even worse, hit the back of his head on a curb. He spent the next four months in a hospital. It forever changed him – frequent headaches, trouble concentrating, short term memory issues, ptsd. He still has the occasional drink, but absolutely refuses to go to a bar. The guy who hit him did a few months in county.

J H

That sounds like unprovoked assault.

This sounds like two assholes having a drunken go.

Could have just as easily ended with the roles reversed which is why I have an issue with prosecuting these cases as murder.

Wanna be an asshole with a glass jaw?

Stay home.

Coyote Belly

Not sure. From what I read, they got in to it in the bar(not sure if it was physical or simply chest pounding), which lead to Coleman getting kicked out by security. It could have easily been a sneaky punch, which is why I brought up the story of my friend, but who knows. I’m sure more of the story
will come out.

Christ Puncher

“Wanna be an asshole with a glass jaw?”

Yeah, way to blame the victim.

J H

Darwin remains undefeated.

Christ Puncher

What did Darwin have to say about one punch laws in NSW, professor?

J H

That idiots who drink too much, are violent and can’t take a punch get naturally selected out of the gene pool.

Christ Puncher

You’re really out here defending some bogan who literally punched a guy to death? Cool… cool.

J H

He didn’t punch him to death. He punched him once and the guy hit his head on the ground.

justiceminister

Built like a brick alehouse with a side order of rage inducing steroid abuse maybe. Was/is a footy player so who knows.

Davo didn’t stand a chance against this Goliath, unlike a previous Davo who took a monster down with a single sling shot. Throw the book at him and take him down for a long stretch. With the emphasis on a stretch.

Gomez

‘Grub’ looks about as smart as a box of hammers……Footy thug also looks like he is carrying 40kg more than Davo…
Weak as piss act….
RIP Chris…..Condolences to family and friends

AI (for ever) .

I agree but it won’t happen.

The hospitality industry has too much sway ( read brown paper bags of $$$ going to politicians, I allegedly say).

Look at star casino, corrupt af.

Nothing other then a slap on the wrist is going be happening to them!!!

The laws simply state, get em drunk, take their money, kick em out and the police, ambulance, taxpayers will deal with the cost / human suffering your business cause.

Surfer

Incorrect. The liquor board is already onto it. The amount of work going into the investigation is huge by the Police and the Licencing department.

AI (for ever) .

Is that the same crew who investigates star casino and found them as corrupt af?

And nothing happening?

Wouldn’t surprise me to see them hang, draw and quartered a little community club.

Just to give star casino a warning what they could do if they weren’t so protected by politicians?

Surfer

No the North region of the Police have a licencing division and they will breach the Pub and from what I hear they are already trouble from previous stuff.

Wayne Lunch

Well that just shit for everyone.RIP CD


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