A South Coast woman burned on the legs and buttocks after falling into a fire pit at a friend’s house party has described how a drunk man grabbed her around the arms in a “bear hug” move moments before the pair of them toppled over into the flames.
Carly Crane, 22, said she saw Benjamin Ian O’Brien moving towards her from her right only a split-second before he wrapped his arms around her as she stood in the backyard of the Gwynneville home on the night of June 25 last year.
“I noticed out of the corner of my eye Benjamin coming from the right,” she told Wollongong Local Court on Thursday.
“His arms were open, about shoulder width apart.
“He wrapped his arms around me….he bear-hugged me a tipped me back a little. I felt my weight lift off my feet...[I was] being lifted slightly in the air.
“All I can remember then is falling back into the fire with him on top of me.”
Ms Crane said she felt like O’Brien remained on top of her “for a long time”.
“I knew I’d been burned but it wasn’t too painful, then I seen (sic) my skin hanging off, that’s when I went into shock,” she said.
“I remember my friends taking me out to the car and driving me straight to hospital.”
Police charged O’Brien with reckless grievous bodily harm, alleging the 26-year-old’s action in grabbing Ms Crane in the bear hug-style manoeuvre in close proximity to the fire was reckless.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charge, claiming he simply stumbled into Ms Crane and they fell over together.
Ms Crane told the court O’Brien was intoxicated at the time, saying she’d seen him “sculling” straight Vodka and drinking beer prior to the incident.
She said he’d become “loud and a bit obnoxious” while sitting next to her twice, causing her to move on both occasions – the second time, to stand by the fire.
“He was singing loudly and swaying...bear hugging and tackling [other] people,” she said.
“I got up and went and stood beside my friend [in front of the fire].”
Several more people who attended the party are expected to be called to give evidence when the case continues on Friday.
Both O’Brien and Ms Crane were supported in court by their respective families.