Mourner’s glassing attack on Hilltop Hoods rapper was ‘completely out of character’

An Adelaide man who glassed a member of hip hop group the Hilltop Hoods at a wake has avoided imprisonment — but a judge has told him he should have apologised to his victim.

Christopher Peregi, 45, had consumed several shots and about eight beers when he assaulted Daniel Howe Smith, who goes by the stage name MC Pressure, at Aberfoyle Park in Adelaide’s south in May 2018.

South Australia’s District Court heard that Mr Smith had to be taken to hospital, and that his head had to be glued shut because it was cut and bleeding.

The two men were among about a dozen mourners who were at an Aberfoyle Park home following a funeral in Strathalbyn.

During a seven-day trial, Mr Smith told the court he was having a conversation with the son of the deceased when Peregi hit him on the head with a glass or a bottle, causing him to pass out.

Peregi claimed he accidentally smashed a bottle over Mr Smith’s head when he became “lightheaded” and tripped on a chair.

He was found guilty by a jury, in November, of assaulting Mr Smith.

During today’s sentencing, Judge Liesl Chapman said Peregi had used alcohol in the past to manage stress, and that he had just resumed recreational drinking prior to the assault.

“Alcohol that night was not your friend and had not been for a long time,” Judge Chapman said.

“It might well explain what happened that night to some degree but it certainly does not excuse it.

Mr Smith previously told the court that doctors removed glass from his scalp before his wound was stitched.

He said he suffered concussion and temporary deafness after the incident.

Judge Chapman said she accepted Peregi was remorseful and that he was “otherwise a man of very good character”.

She suspended a four-year jail sentence — provided that Peregi develop a mental health plan, and that he undergo alcohol and anger management counselling.

“I don’t think that you are a risk to the community at all as long as you stay away from alcohol,” she said.

“Despite the seriousness of the crime, I have already accepted that it was completely out of character.

“I think you will rehabilitate well in the community.”