'Permanent impact': Youth filmed physical attack of stranger out with friends

A young man who physically attacked a stranger on a night out before laughing about it with his friends, leaving the victim with ongoing injuries, will spend at least a year in prison.

Dylan Warner-Chilstone faced the ACT Supreme Court in late February for sentencing on a charge of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm.

In recently released remarks, Justice Belinda Baker said his actions involved chasing after the victim and filming him as “a form of entertainment”.

During the early hours of 28 October 2023, the victim and some friends were near a McDonald’s in Civic.

The offender and three of his friends walked past them. One of Warner-Chilstone’s friends assaulted the victim by punching him repeatedly, with Warner-Chilstone filming that attack.

When the victim tried to walk away, Warner-Chilstone ran after him and punched him with enough force to make his head “snap back”.

When the victim ran towards a nearby business for safety, Warner-Chilstone and one of his friends followed.

“While on the ground [after tripping], the offender beat the victim, either with hits or punches, or a combination of both,” Justice Baker said.

“When the assault stopped, the victim got to his feet and heard someone to his left say ‘look at me’.”

The victim turned, thinking someone was there to help him, but it was Warner-Chilstone holding a phone out to record the scene.

“When the offender saw the victim’s facial injuries up close, he did not attempt to summon assistance, but instead filmed the victim’s injuries before running, laughing, to join his friends,” she said.

Warner-Chilstone left to rejoin his friends, who headed towards Garema Place and was seen showing one of his friends his phone.

In the aftermath of the assault, the victim’s friends sought help from paramedics, and he was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

His injuries included multiple facial fractures, lacerations to his eye and abrasions to his hand and arm.

“[In a statement to the court, the victim] said that he has had numerous medical and physiotherapy appointments to try to recover physically,” she said.

However, the injuries have resulted in ongoing nerve issues and scarring and have affected his university and work attendance.

During sentencing, Justice Baker said that while Warner-Chilstone’s lawyer had argued the attack fell “just below the mid-range” of similar offending, she placed it “at least [in the] mid-range”.

“The offender pursued the victim whilst the victim was attempting to retreat and to remove himself from the situation,” she said.

“At the point that the victim attempted to flee, the offender had an opportunity to desist from further offending, but did not do so.”

Instead, Warner-Chilstone launched a “prolonged” attack on the victim and also did not show “any immediate remorse” for his actions.

“This was not a case where an offender, affected by alcohol, lashed out at a victim in a ‘thoughtless moment’ and immediately regretted his actions,” she said.

Rather, Warner-Chilstone then started to film the victim, which indicated he saw the events as “a form of entertainment for himself and others”.

Also, she said Warner-Chilstone, who was intoxicated during the attack, had stopped drinking shortly after the attack.

Justice Baker said his new sobriety, along with familial support, gave him “reasonable prospects” of rehabilitation.

She sentenced him to just under one year and nine months imprisonment, with a non-parole period to finish on 15 February 2026.