My father a fragile, elderly man of 72, battling stage 2 lung cancer had finished his first course of radiation and chemo therapy in November 2022. One week later he was viciously assaulted by a complete stranger in a shopping centre car park. He was pushed to the ground, stomped on and repeatedly kicked - fracturing his ribs and tearing the skin from his immunocompromised, weakened body. 

As you could imagine this caused him tremendous physical pain not to mention the psychological damage. He no longer felt safe in the community. This unforgivable act damaged his perspective of life - or what was left of it. 

May 15th 2023 my father Brian Kent sadly succumbed to cancer. His brittle, fractured ribs from the incident had never healed. Having a respiratory disease he coughed all day, every day clutching at his ribs in agony.

After many court adjournments over the course of 6 months - the man that stands accused of my fathers turmoil is finally fronting court 24th July 2023. A day to finally see justice for the pain the accused had caused. However, I was told there would be no justice. Because of my fathers passing they could no longer prosecute. Talk about ‘a get out of jail free card’. 

A person who commits a violent assault should be held accountable regardless if their victim has passed away before court proceedings. 

So here I am. Continuing the fight for justice for my dad. Just because my father has come to the end of life doesn’t mean a man responsible for causing such psychological and physical distress to the remainder of his days should go unpunished.