A life coach groped two women at a nightclub on a boozy night out on the day his wife left him – before punching a security guard in the face after touching another woman at a different venue just over a month later.
Serge Zhura, of Sydney, pleaded guilty to sexual touching, common assault, resisting police and failing to leave a licensed area following the 2022 incidents on March 20 and May 1.
Zhura had gone to the Ivy nightclub in Sydney’s CBD that night as his wife packed up after the breakdown of their marriage.
He approached his first victim on the dance floor from behind, holding her hips and touching her buttocks as well as her outer and inner thighs, according to documents lodged in the NSW Supreme Court.
“I have a boyfriend, you’re twice my age,” the woman told Zhura, who then left the dance floor.
Serge Zhura, from Sydney, pleaded guilty to sexual touching, common assault, resisting police and failing to leave a licensed area after the incidents on March 20, 2022 and May 1 of the same year
He returned to the dance floor over an hour later to approach the same woman and squeeze her buttocks.
She then alerted security.
That same night, Zhura groped another woman who was also on the Ivy dance floor.
He put his hands on her hips so tightly that her friend had to push his arm away from her to release his grip.
Zhura then danced in front of the woman, who subsequently reported his behavior to security, who tried to kick him out of the club at around 9.30am, but he refused.
Police eventually arrived and arrested Zhura, who admitted to touching the women inappropriately.
‘When the police tried to escort him to the police vehicle, he resisted by dropping his body to the floor. He was physically lifted into the vehicle by the police’, according to court documents.
The second offense occurred at Bungalow 8 in Barangaroo on 1 May 2022.
Zhura groped three women at two separate nightclubs between March 20 and May 1, 2022
Similarly, Zhura had approached a woman on the dance floor and squeezed her buttocks before moving away and telling security.
Zhura was asked to leave several times but argued with security guards, calling one an ‘Indian f**k’ and a ‘black c**t’.
He then punched one of the security guards in the jaw before being removed from the premises.
Once outside, Zhura tried to kick another security guard and punched him under the eye as they tried to restrain him.
He was arrested again. Zhura was out on bail at the time of the second night’s offence.
Zhura was fined $750 after resisting police and given a two-year community corrections order on the sexual assault charge, along with a 12-month probation order for assault.
He unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and sentence, but was sentenced to an 18-month conditional discharge and six months of conditional discharge.
Zhura claimed that he had experienced poor mental health at the time.
He said the Covid lockdowns left him out of work for four months and he had blown through all his savings.
He had an argument with his best friend of 12 years and divorced his wife, with whom he has a four-year-old son. Zhura also said his mental health had declined from the war in his native Ukraine.
‘I found a new part-time job but it wasn’t enough to pay all the bills on a single income and I had days where I couldn’t feed (myself),’ he told the court.
‘I am diagnosed with ADHD with anxiety, I also developed depression and PTSD. I also had suicidal ideation(s).’
He said his wife’s parents had helped her move out of their home on the night of the Ivy incidents and he didn’t want to be there so he went out for the night.
Zhura touched the buttocks of two women at the Ivy nightclub in Sydney’s CBD
“The mental state I was in, I didn’t know what I was doing, I started drinking too much and have no recollection of any of the offences,” he said.
Zhura also said he did not remember his actions in the early hours of May 1 because he had experienced panic attacks.
‘I am now a much better person and in a better mental state. I’ve launched a new life coaching business to help other people who were in deep dark situations and help them get better,’ he said.
‘This was the worst point in my life that took me to hell and back, it would be great not to be convicted or to appear on any wanted criminal history if I am looking for a job in the future.
‘I want to forget the year 2022 and not have a constant reminder of the worst period of my life hanging over my head with a record.’
Zhura has seen a psychologist and a psychiatrist and has no previous criminal record.
He had asked that his case be heard under the Mental Health and Cognitive Disability Act’s forensic provisions.
He also claimed that the security guards ‘abused their power’.
Zhura apologized to the court, saying: ‘If I had a daughter, I wouldn’t suffer if someone had done that’.
Judge Peter Hamill, in his findings published on March 5, accepted that Zhura’s behavior was out of character, but said there was no doubt about his guilt.
He said it would be “surprising” if a conviction was not recorded given the repeat nature of the offence.
Judge Hamill rejected Zhura’s bid to have his case referred to the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Zhura regularly posts inspirational videos along with pictures of him and his young son together on his social media accounts.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Zhura for comment.
