Ricky Lefoe found guility of manslaughter of Brazilian Ivan Susin on the Gold Coast

It was a moment of madness that turned a night on the Glitter Strip upside down.

And it was all because of a handful of greasy fries.

Coming home from a night of beers with friends Jonny Lodge and Kai Thake, Brazilian student Ivan Susin and friends stopped at a kebab shop on Orchid Lane on the infamous Surfers Paradise stretch to order takeout around 1 am on September 30, 2019. .

As Mr Thake and Mr Lodge ate, Sydney construction worker Ricky Lefoe and his partner Shaun Simpson arrived.

They were on a family holiday on the Gold Coast. The two groups were complete strangers to each other as they passed the kebab shop that would later become the site of utter carnage.

In the blink of an eye, Mr. Simpson, inebriated, clowning around and acting “the man of town”, drunkenly pinches some hot fries from the feasting couple, laughing as he walks away.

The heated moment is fully captured on CCTV, including the fatal blow to Mr. Susin.

Ivan Susin was ordering takeout when he tried to defend his friends from Shaun Simpson’s attacks during a night out at Surfers Paradise in 2019. Image: Supplied

First, a small dispute breaks out. Mr. Simpson then walks over to the seated couple, leans over, and throws a punch at Mr. Lodge.

The two wrestle on the pavement as shocked bystanders look on. Lefoe, dressed in a black hoodie, walks over and stands close to his fellow fighter before Mr. Susin, who he is seen ordering at the kebab shop, joins the fray.

He throws a punch at Mr. Simpson, who misses completely.

In the blink of an eye, Lefoe grabs him and throws a punch at Mr. Susin’s head.

It collapses in a heap on the pavement and doesn’t move.

Lefoe and Mr. Simpson are seen walking away from the mess, but not before Mr. Simpson lands a punch on Mr. Thake.

Ricky Lefoe (pictured) had always insisted that he was trying to finish the fight. He was found guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Mr. Susin still lies motionless on the ground. He would die in the hospital 11 days later.

The shocking images dominated Chamber 12 of the Brisbane High Court this week as Lefoe finally stood trial in the 29-year-old’s death.

On Monday, he pleaded not guilty to a single count of manslaughter.

In a painstaking process, the prosecution led the jury through the fated events of that terrible night, replaying the grim footage over and over as Lefoe sat silently in the dock.

Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso argued that there were many other avenues for Lefoe to end the fight or call it quits altogether, but she took none as she wanted to keep the fight between her friend and Mr Lodge, and no one else.

She said her reaction to Mr. Susin’s intervention was to deliver the killing blow.

But Lefoe’s defense lawyer argued that he was “scared” and desperate to finish the fight, taking Susin down in a bid to shield his friend from further harm.

Lefoe himself took the stand, revealing that he was just trying to buy cigarettes at a convenience store after the night.

“My first reaction was to stop the fight, break it up,” he told jurors Tuesday.

“Out of nowhere someone came up behind me and threw a big dog shot at my friend’s back.”

Lefoe gave evidence that he thought Mr. Susin would continue to punch his friend, explaining that he “reactively” threw his own punch.

During cross-examination, Ms. Kelso suggested that she had time from the time she left the convenience store to where the fight was taking place to think about what she was going to do.

Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso questioned Lefoe about his actions during the fight, telling him that she only wanted to keep the fight between her partner and Mr Lodge and for no one else to intervene.

‘Not long, the convenience store was next door,’ Lefoe replied.

“You said your first reaction was to stop the fight?” asked Mrs. Kelso.

“I put my arm on the guy… I said, ‘Stop, what are (both of you) doing?'” Lefoe replied.

Ms. Kelso suggested that Lefoe was not worried about his friend’s safety during the fight, but she dismissed it.

‘Ivan’s punch didn’t hit Shaun, did you see that it didn’t actually hit him?’ asked Mrs. Kelso.

“It happened so fast… I think it might have brushed the top of (Shaun’s) head,” Lefoe said.

Mrs Kelso said, ‘Well, you were standing right next to Shaun. Ivan was next to you… there was nothing obstructing your view, in terms of what Ivan was doing.

She asked Lefoe if he hit Mr Susin over the head ‘as hard’ as he could, to which he disagreed.

“Everything happened so fast, it was a split second,” he said.

‘When you grabbed (Mr Susin) by the shoulder, could you have pushed him, pushed him with both hands?’ asked Mrs. Kelso.

“I disagree,” Lefoe replied.

An emotional Ricky Lefoe held his head in his hands after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter before saying “I’m sorry” to his victim’s family.

Ms Kelso asked Lefoe: ‘May I suggest that your motivation when you were standing next to Shaun when he was on top of Johnny was to keep other people out of the fight? You just wanted it to be a fight between Shaun and Johnny.

“Your intention was to let Shaun keep fighting because he was bigger and he was winning,” he continued.

“I don’t agree, I didn’t want there to be a fight at all,” Lefoe replied.

In the end, the jury took less than two hours to reach their verdict.

“Guilty,” they responded to the judge on Wednesday when asked if they found Lefoe guilty or not guilty of manslaughter.

Members of Mr. Susin’s family, including his mother Jane and sister Joseane, who had flown in from Brazil to watch the proceedings, gasped audibly and embraced as an emotional Lefoe held his head in his hands.

But now they face a long wait for Lefoe to be sentenced, and it takes several weeks to get a pre-sentence report.

Lefoe mouthed “I’m sorry” to the family, before being led to the cells.

Outside court, the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Noel Jones, said the family was naturally “devastated” to lose Ivan in the prime of his life.

“People need to be aware that this is the sobering reality of beating people up,” said Sgt. Jones.

“People see a lot of movies where people just get up, but this is not reality.

‘People will fall and hit their heads, and they will never regain consciousness.

‘Three years have been very hard for them… (Iván) was a very loved young man.

“Today is a bit of a closure for them, it’s very overwhelming for them right now.”

Mr. Simpson has already been sentenced for his role in the fight, retiring from court in 2020 with probation and community service after pleading guilty to assault causing bodily harm and robbery.