Bashing accused saddened by father's death

On any other night James Ian Longworth says he would have laughed and walked away.

But "overwhelmed" with sadness at his father's recent death, he "just lashed out" at a Sydney bouncer who denied him entry to a bar.

Security guard Fadi "Fred" Taiba suffered a traumatic brain injury and had to have part of his skull removed after Longworth punched him at Bar 333 on George Street on September 6, 2013.

Longworth admits throwing the punch but denies intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The 34-year-old told his trial at Sydney's District Court on Tuesday that at the time of the "incident" he had been grappling with his father's death in June that year.

Longworth explained how he had been living in the UK when his father died and he never got a chance to say goodbye or "tell him that I loved him".

On the day before he punched Mr Taiba, he was told the crematorium had lost his father's ashes.

"I was heartbroken ... The thought of never being able to visit him again and him just being lost. It was horrible."

This feeling continued into the next day when he went out for what had planned to be one or two beers before going home.

But after running into friends, the trial heard he continued to drink 10 schooners.

The group then tried to gain entry at Bar 333 where Mr Taiba was manning the door, but Longworth was denied entry.

Longworth said he had simply "shuffled his feet" at a step on the way in but Mr Taiba had told him: "I can't possibly let you in, you are stumbling all over the place."

There was a gasp from Mr Taiba's family as Longworth told the jury that there was a "laughing tone to his voice".

"It was probably nothing," Longworth said, adding: "I just misinterpreted it. Any other night I would probably have just laughed and walked away".

Instead, he protested.

As he looked back towards the bar, he said "I knew my night was over and the sadness came back".

"I thought it was a trivial matter of shuffling my feet and I got overwhelmed with sadness about Dad and I just lashed out."

Longworth fled because he thought Mr Taiba would punch him.

He later described his punch towards Mr Taiba as a "tap" because he was "in disbelief about the whole situation" and "couldn't believe he had hit someone".

"I couldn't bring myself to say the word `punch' or `hit'," he told the court.

Longworth said he never gave any thought as to the consequences of his actions.

The trial continues.