The father of fatal one-punch assault victim Thomas Kelly has been ''horrified'' by last month's cowardly hit outside a Civic nightclub, and says the offender would never have lashed out if he understood what it could put the victim's family through.
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Ralph Kelly, whose 18-year-old son died after being punched to the ground during a night out in Sydney's Kings Cross in July 2012, was left cold after watching CCTV images of the Canberra attack on Wednesday.
Disturbing images show the offender arguing with a group of men before the victim walks away from the entrance to Academy nightclub on Bunda Street in the early hours of Monday morning, April 21. The offender takes a few steps towards him and deals a single blow to the back of the man's head, forcing him to fall to the ground and smash his head on the pavement.
''I'm horrified, it's terrible,'' Mr Kelly said. ''There's no understanding of how senseless this is. It's just sad.''
Police have defended a month-long wait to publicise the attack, which left the victim with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
Nightclub staff handed over CCTV images of the incident within 24 hours and said they were surprised police waited until Monday to call for witnesses.
ACT Chief Police Officer Rudi Lammers has declined to comment any further on the incident, and a police spokeswoman said there was nothing further to add.
Chief Lammers was not quizzed on the matter when he appeared on a Canberra morning radio show on Thursday.
An ACT Policing spokeswoman said officers had already received information about the assault from members of the public. ''This information is being followed up by the case officer and is part of our ongoing investigation,'' the spokeswoman said.
Mr Kelly said the violent nature of the unsolved attack was ''impossible to believe'' and ''unfathomable''.
''It was not a fight," he said. "He just randomly attacked him. In a fight, your body knows what's going on and you generally come out of that better. It's when it's a senseless punch and your body has no time to prepare.''
Mr Kelly wished he could tell the offender his split-second decision could have long-term ramifications.
''I think I'd probably try to make them understand the consequences of such a stupid behaviour, in terms of if that person died or suffered serious brain damage, that goes on for his family forever.
''It's a lifetime sentence for everybody else. You would never do it if you knew what the family went through. You would never do it.''
Mr Kelly's family started the Thomas Kelly Youth Foundation in memory of their son and said they had been contacted by hundreds of victims of alcohol-related violence.
''These people face thousands of dollars worth of medical bills and have to deal with the emotional, physical, financial scarring," he said. "It destroys people. To actually get over an attack like that takes years.''
Mr Kelly acknowledged some measures introduced in Sydney earlier this year to curb alcohol-related violence, such as 1.30am lockouts and 3am ''last drinks'', were controversial with revellers and licensed-venue owners. But he said they had already led to a significant reduction in violent incidents in the inner city.
''There have also been 10 extra CCTV cameras installed," he said. "You can see from the attack in Canberra the footage will help them find the perpetrator.''
