A former executive at a $7.2 billion artificial intelligence company has been fined $3000 and had criminal convictions recorded after assaulting two musicians during a drunken night out.
Timothy Bentley faced Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Monday, when his barrister was unable to convince the judge that the cybersecurity expert should not attract marks on his previously faultless criminal record.
The former vice president of sales for Asia Pacific at cybersecurity start-up Abnormal AI pleaded guilty to punching two musicians at the Ramblin’ Rascal Tavern in the city centre in February, as this masthead first revealed.
He hit Stu Greenwood, of local band The Grand Union, in the face after having had several drinks, according to the agreed facts, leaving the guitarist with a broken nose.
When another musician, John Flaws of Bloody Legend, tried to intervene and stop the fracas, he copped a punch from Bentley directly on his mouth, the court was told.
Bentley’s barrister Tim Lowe attempted to convince the judge his client losing his high-profile job and receiving anger management counselling was punishment enough for his one-off lapse in judgment.
“There is an immediate recognition of my client’s wrongdoing … he went to a GP and got a referral for assistance and counselling, and began the journey to self-improvement from the very beginning,” Mr Lowe said.
“He is sincerely remorseful … and ashamed by what has happened here.”
But Deputy Chief Judge Michael Antrum said allowing Bentley to escape conviction would send the wrong message about the scourge of alcohol-fuelled violence.
“This is not just a push, this is not just a mere grapple, this is two distinct strikes to the head,” the judge said.
“The community will not accept … this kind of drunken violence in licensed premises when people are just trying to go out and have a good time.”
He recorded two convictions on Bentley’s record for common assault and ordered him to pay $3000 in fines.
Abnormal AI’s website still lists Bentley as an employee and says he launched its operations in the Asia Pacific region in 2021.
The company provides security services to a quarter of the Fortune 500, representing some of the largest companies in the world, including tools to stop employees falling for phishing scams.
It did not respond to questions about Bentley.
Rohin Sharma, The Grand Union’s guitarist, said that he welcomed the judge’s comments on the assault.
“While we hope that lessons have been learnt from this unnecessary ordeal, a modest fine for a successful executive is of little direct consolation to the victims,” he said.
“The defence barrister indicated to the court that his client is ‘sincerely remorseful and ashamed’, but to date there’s certainly been no public or private apology to his client’s victims, so we’re not quite sure how those two facts are reconciled.
“The victims continue to bear the effects of this shocking assault and feel like they’ve been an afterthought, having only been kept informed by the media of the downgraded charges and the case progress.”
Bentley had initially been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm before the charges were downgraded to common assault.
With AAP.
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Kishor Napier-Raman is a senior business writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously he worked as a CBD columnist and reporter in the federal parliamentary press gallery.Connect via X or email.
