A man who suffered horrific injuries in an unprovoked one-punch attack at Unanderra says he is dismayed his aggressor has been spared a full-time jail sentence.
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Luke Mansell was handed a 14-month intensive correction order - requiring at least 32 hours of weekly community service and possible counselling - for punching Thomas Harris to the face on May 3.
The blow broke Mr Harris' jaw in three places and caused a fist-sized piece of the bone to break cleanly away from his face, leaving an empty row where his bottom teeth should have been.
"I was pretty shocked; I didn't know what had happened," Mr Harris, 24, of Jamberoo, told the Mercury.
"My whole face was just hanging down. My girlfriend was terrified."
The men, both 24, crossed paths at Unanderra train station about 7.40pm on May 3 as Mansell and his friends headed for Wests Illawarra and Mr Harris and his girlfriend made their way to a friend's 21st.
According to Mr Harris, the men initiated a conversation, handed him a can of bourbon, then asked who he knew in Unanderra.
He said Mansell grew suddenly aggressive when he replied "Ryan", telling him - nonsensically - "so you're the reason Ryan is in jail", before landing the punch.
A second man from the group also lashed out and punched Mr Harris to the other side of his face, before his girlfriend managed to deter the group.
Mr Harris underwent emergency surgery to insert three metal plates to hold his jaw together.
He said he had become fearful of riding the train or being out alone at night as a result of the attack.
Mansell, 24, of Dapto, pleaded guilty to recklessly causing grievous bodily harm in company.
By the time Mansell was to be sentenced on July 17, Mr Harris, a boilermaker, had used up all his leave on hospital visits and felt he couldn't afford to take the day off work.
He read the outcome later, in the Mercury.
"I was really upset and angry," Mr Harris said.
"I could have fallen and hit my head and died.
"He should have gone to jail. Someone needs to be made an example of.
"I don't understand the legal system. They try and help out the people doing the crime rather than the ones who are [victims of crime]."
The sentence reflects Mansell's limited criminal record and he remains in the community on restricted liberty.
It was handed down by Magistrate Susan McGowan at Port Kembla Local Court after an earlier magistrate considered the case and asked that Mansell's suitability for the order be assessed.
Mr Harris' father Greg believes Mansell should have been jailed under one-punch sentencing laws, which carry a mandatory eight-year jail term.
"The only way my son could have got any justice was if he'd died," he said.
"The next person may not live to tell the tale."
