A LARGE boulder bearing the name of David Cassai – a young man killed by a single punch on New Year’s Eve 2012 – now stands permanently at the Rye foreshore, close to the spot where his life was taken.
Around 80 people – friends, family, police officers who worked on David’s case and other families who have lost loved ones to one-punch attacks – gathered at the Rye foreshore on Sunday 24 May for an informal ceremony, a catchup and a picnic.
The plaque on the memorial reads: “In memory of David Cassai, 19/1/1990 – 31/12/2012. From profound loss came lasting change – CCTV stands in his name, protecting the Rye foreshore.”
David’s mother, Caterina Politi, said she had deliberately chosen the boulder’s location.
“It’s right next to one of the CCTV poles,” said Politi. “It wouldn’t have been as significant if it was just in a garden bed near the playground. It was all relating to us advocating for the CCTV cameras.”
David was 22 when he was killed in an unprovoked attack while out celebrating a friend’s birthday (One punch leaves fatal reminder forever, The News 28/11/22). He had spent a great deal of time on the Mornington Peninsula, where his father lived, and Politi said the area held meaning for him.
Politi described her son as someone who drew people to him wherever he went.
“He just loved life,” said Politi.
“Everyone gravitated to David, he had time for everyone.”
Earlier on the evening that he was killed, David had paid a stranger’s bus fare at the Portsea Hotel.
“That was the type of person he was,” said Politi.
“A heart of gold.”
The CCTV cameras Politi fought for were installed at the Rye foreshore in 2018, funded in part through a federal government grant. Politi said then-federal minister Greg Hunt was instrumental in that funding being approved.
Her push for cameras grew directly from what happened the night David died. The perpetrators had been on the foreshore side of the road before the attack, where there was no camera coverage.
“One of the perpetrators attacked two young kids prior to attacking David and his friends,” said Politi.
“If there were cameras set up on the foreshore side that night, maybe police might have come down and told them to move on.”
Cameras on the shop side of the road captured most of the attack and were critical in identifying the perpetrators.
“If it happened on the other side, we might have never found them,” said Politi.
Politi said she hoped the memorial would prompt passers-by to look up, notice the cameras and think twice.
“I drove down to Rye and I saw someone standing in front of the memorial, reading the plaque,” said Politi.
“Whether they go home and Google David’s name, or it’s just the awareness that there are cameras here; if you do something bad, you’re going to get caught.”
Stop One Punch Can Kill, which Politi co-founded after David’s death, successfully lobbied the Victorian Government to introduce a coward’s punch manslaughter law, which passed in November 2014 and carried a mandatory minimum 10-year non-parole period. The organisation has since wound down as a formal charity, though Politi continues to maintain its social media pages.
“We achieved a lot,” said Politi.
“We raised the profile of what one punch can do. Now it’s up to every individual to share that with their family – that one punch can and does kill.”
Former Stop One Punch Can Kill chair Richard Day, who spoke at the gathering, said David’s family and the Stop One Punch Can Kill community had refused to let his death be in vain.
“They turned their pain into purpose – building awareness, changing laws, conversations, and working tirelessly to protect others from suffering the same senseless loss,” said Day.
For Politi, who described the honour as bittersweet, the boulder is a permanent symbol of that purpose.
“That boulder is not going to disintegrate anytime soon,” said Politi.
“It’s an enduring legacy for David.”
Follow Stop One Punch Can Kill on Instagram @stop_onepunchcankill
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 3 June 2026
