A life coach groped two women in a nightclub during a drunken night out on the day his wife left him – before punching a security guard in the face after touching another woman at a different location just over a month later.
Serge Zhura, from Sydney, pleaded guilty to sexual touching, common assault, resisting police and failing to leave a licensed premises following the 2022 incidents on March 20 and May 1.
Zhura had gone to Ivy nightclub in Sydney’s CBD on the night his wife was packing up after the collapse of their wedding.
He approached his first victim on the dance floor from behind, held her hips and touched her buttocks as well as her outer and inner thighs, according to documents lodged in the NSW Supreme Court.
“I have a boyfriend, you’re twice my age,” the woman said to Zhura, who then left the dance floor.
Serge Zhura, from Sydney, pleaded guilty to sexual touching, common assault, resisting police and failing to leave a licensed premises following the incidents on March 20, 2022 and May 1 of the same year
He returned to the dance floor over an hour later to approach the same woman and squeezed her buttocks.
She then alerted security.
That same night, Zhura groped another woman who was also on the Ivy dance floor.
He placed his hands so firmly on her hips that her boyfriend had to push his arm away from her to release his grip.
Zhura then danced for the woman who then reported his behavior to security, who tried to kick him out of the club around 9:30 p.m., but he refused.
Police eventually arrived and arrested Zhura, who admitted to inappropriately touching the women.
‘When police tried to escort him to the police vehicle, he resisted by dropping his body to the ground. He was physically lifted into the vehicle by police,” according to court documents.
The second offense occurred on May 1, 2022 at Bungalow 8 in Barangaroo.
Zhura groped three women at two separate nightclubs between March 20 and May 1, 2022
Similarly, Zhura had approached a woman on the dance floor and pinched her buttocks before leaving and telling security.
Zhura was asked to leave several times but got into an argument with the guards, calling one of the two an “Indian f**k” and a “black c**t.”
He then punched one of the guards in the jaw before being removed from the premises.
Once outside, Zhura tried to kick another guard and punch him in the eye as they tried to restrain him.
He was arrested again. Zhura was out on bail at the time of the second night of the offense.
Zhura was fined $750 after resisting police and sentenced to a two-year community corrections order for sexual touching, along with a 12-month community corrections order for assault.
He unsuccessfully appealed his sentence and conviction, but was resentenced to an 18-month conditional release order and a six-month parole order.
Zhura argued that he was in poor mental health at the time.
He said Covid lockdowns left him out of work for four months and had used up all his savings.
He had a falling out with his best friend of twelve years and split with his wife, with whom he has a four-year-old son. Zhura also said his mental health had deteriorated due to the war in his home country of Ukraine.
“I found a new part-time job, but it wasn’t enough to pay all the bills because I was living on one income, and I had days when I couldn’t eat (myself),” he told the court.
‘I have been diagnosed with ADHD with anxiety, I have also developed depression and PTSD. I also had suicidal (thoughts).”
He said his wife’s parents helped her move out of their house the night of the Ivy incidents and he didn’t want to be there, so he headed out for the night.
Zhura touched the buttocks of two women at Ivy nightclub in Sydney’s CBD
“Due to the mental state I was in, I didn’t know what I was doing, I started drinking too much and I can’t remember any of the offenses caused,” he said.
Zhura also said he could not remember his actions in the early hours of May 1 because he had been having panic attacks.
‘I am now a much better person and in a better mental state. I have launched a new life coaching company to help other people who have found themselves in deeply dark situations and help them get better,” he said.
‘This was the worst point in my life, which took me to hell and back. It would be great not to have a conviction or show up in the criminal history search when I apply for a job in the future.
‘I want to forget the year 2022 and not constantly hang a record over my head about the worst period of my life.’
Zhura has seen a psychologist and a psychiatrist and has no previous criminal record.
He had asked for his case to be heard under the Forensic Facilities Act in the field of mental health and cognitive disorders.
He also alleged that the guards “abused their power.”
Zhura apologized to the court, saying, “If I had a daughter, I wouldn’t like it if someone had done that.”
Judge Peter Hamill, in his findings published on March 5, accepted that Zhura’s conduct was out of character but said there was no doubt about his guilt.
He said it would be “surprising” if there was no conviction given the repeated nature of the offence.
Judge Hamill rejected Zhura’s bid to have his case referred to the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Zhura regularly posts inspiring videos and photos of him and his son together on his social media accounts.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Zhura for comment.