Security guard Mousa Al-Zaher’s final moments played in court after fatal attack outside Sutherland pub

Footage of a security guard’s final moments following a fatal fight outside a Sydney pub has been played in court. It shows the man kneeling on the ground next to his attacker who had only just been kicked out of the pub. Brian Edmund Brown, 33, was on Friday jailed after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter over a brawl outside a pub in Sydney’s south on February 25 last year. A court was told how Brown was kicked out of the pub before an altercation broke out between him and security guard Mousa Al-Zaher outside the Royal Hotel in Sutherland about 2am. “Within 10 minutes of interacting with the offender, Brian Brown, (Mr Al-Zaher) was dead,” Judge Noman said. Mr Al-Zaher’s final moments were played in the NSW District Court on Friday, showing Brown approach the security guard just minutes after he was asked to leave the pub. He had been spotted trying to pick up other people’s drinks following an altercation in the pub’s beer garden. The hotel’s manager heard Brown repeatedly say “What did he say?” before the fight broke out, the court was told. People tried to hold Brown back from Mr Al-Zaher, the security guard at one stage going inside to call triple-0. Brown punched Mr Al-Zaher three times in the head, with the security guard elbowing him in the back before bystanders brought Brown to the ground. The security guard appeared to lose his balance before kneeling on the ground next to his attacker. “The offender was restrained on the footpath … seconds later, the deceased was unsteady on his feet and knelt down,” Judge Nicole Noman told the court. “(Mr Al-Zaher) attempted to stand up but collapsed.” Mr Al-Zaher was pronounced dead at the scene. The court was told Brown had been so drunk he had no memory of the events and could therefore “offer no explanation”. Brown was sentenced to three years and six months in jail with a non-parole period of two years on Friday afternoon. He will be eligible for parole next February, as he has been in custody since his arrest. Mr Al-Zaher’s death was found to be caused by cardiorespiratory arrest on a background of blunt force trauma, with the court also told he had an underlying cardiac condition. Judge Noman said Mr Al-Zaher’s death had caused “unimaginable harm and misery” to his loved ones. “He was undoubtedly loved and is greatly missed,” she said. She found Brown’s conduct was out of character and a consequence of his heavy drinking, acknowledging he did not intend to contribute to Mr Al-Zaher’s death. Judge Noman said the offending was at the lower end of seriousness, and Brown had a low risk of reoffending. She found Brown to be genuinely remorseful, saying he had written a letter to the court accepting there was “no justification” for his actions. He wrote of how he constantly thought about the consequences of his actions and included a list of pledges for how he wanted to make amends. The court was told Brown had also made statements about abstaining from alcohol. Judge Noman told Brown that she hoped Mr Al-Zaher’s family would apply to read the letter and could gain “some component of comfort” from it. Brown’s lawyer Slade Howell had earlier argued that Mr Al-Zaher was inviting a confrontation by making hand gestures, and there came a point when neither of the men made efforts to de-escalate the situation. However, Crown prosecutor Ben Allison submitted that Mr Al-Zaher had initially gestured for Brown to “go away”, and any later invitations to come forward needed to be viewed in context. “The deceased works as a security guard … he doesn’t have the option to walk away from the hotel,” Mr Allison said. Mr Howell had also submitted the conduct likely would not have caused the death of a healthy person, noting Mr Al-Zaher’s underlying health condition. Mr Allison had urged Judge Noman to consider the “heartfelt” victim impact statement from Mr Al-Zaher’s sibling in which they described how “cherished” he was. Mr Howell earlier told the court that Brown was “living with the consequences of having contributed to the death … in this case every single day”. “This is a tragic case for all parties concerned,” Mr Howell said. Brown had also expressed concern that he was “showing disrespect to the court by not being suitably dressed” on Friday, having thought he would be brought into the court for sentencing rather than beaming in through an audiovisual link.