'It was honestly horrible' rugby player Losi Filipo's victim says
A young woman knocked down by a punch from Wellington star rugby player Losi Filipo during a late night ordeal has suffered ongoing trauma since the altercation.
A victim of a full-fisted punch inflicted by Filipo on a central Wellington street last year, 22-year-old Kelsey Odell says she is now permanently scarred by the attack and she even finds it too difficult to walk to her local shops in fear of bumping into him.
"I had never experienced anything like that in my life," Odell told NZME on Tuesday.
"He's suffered no consequences. He's not remorseful whatsoever. He's tried to intimidate me twice since. They say he's remorseful but he isn't."
The under-19 winger, Filipo, had been charged with assault following an incident in central Wellington in October last year, when he was 17 and still at secondary school.
NZME reports Filipo was charged with assaulting Odell, and her friends Greg Morgan, 21, Hayden Williams and Olivia Samuels, 22, last October.
Now 18, he was last month discharged without conviction in the District Court.
RELATED NEWS: Wellington Rugby terminates Losi Filipo's contract following outcry over vicious assault
Recounting the attack, Odell said: "It was honestly horrible. It's really scary now even just walking into Porirua."
"We sprinted back screaming for them to stop and leave us alone. The next minute we saw Greg unconscious on the ground. I looked up and Losi was standing in front of me.
"He struck me on my chin with a full force punch and I fell to the ground. I had blood all over me dripping down on my clothes.
"My scar's always going to be there," she added.
The case has attracted significant media attention, with the four victims and their families questioning why Filipo's promising rugby career apparently helped him escape punishment.
