SYDNEY (Pacnews) — An Australian court has heard a Cook Islands laborer is blind in one eye as a result of being repeatedly attacked by his boss on building sites in Sydney.
Samuel Kautai, 21, went to Australia from the Cook Islands in 2004.
He worked as a laborer on building sites in Sydney, where his boss, Manuel Purauto, is accused of attacking him numerous times.
Kautai told the Downing Center Local Court that on one occasion he was repeatedly hit in the head with a hammer at a job site in Greenacre in south western Sydney in 2005.
He told the court Purauto said he worked too slowly. Kautai testified he has since lost the vision in his right eye.
Purauto has pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.
The hearing continues.