Until now. 

In fact, now he is staring down the barrel of a stint behind bars.

His friend and co-offender, Christina Nau, is already there.

The pair’s hope of avoiding a prison sentence over two brutal bashings in the Wollongong CBD last September seemed all but dashed on Friday when Magistrate Brett Thomas jailed them for at least eight months.

Nau, it appears, has accepted his fate and was last night expected to be trucked to Silverwater jail by prison guards for processing.

Schwenke, however, has lodged an appeal against his sentence. He hopes to convince a district court judge later this month that jail is not the place for him.

Just moments after being released on appeals bail on Friday afternoon, Schwenke spoke exclusively to the Mercury about the deep shame and regret he felt.

“What I done was wrong; it’s not the way to reacted,” he said, his soft, respectful demeanor a far cry from the vicious thug who along with Nau delivered two such brutal beatings that night that two out of the three victims were knocked unconscious.

CCTV footage capturing the attacks is shocking not only due to the level of violence involved but also because of what appears to be absent from it: provocation.

Schwenke and Nau have always maintained that they were retaliating to racial abuse over their Maori/Pacific Islander heritage, however Magistrate Thomas found that was no justification for their behaviour.

Schwenke and Nau had just left Fever Nightclub at the morning of September 16 when they confronted the first two victims, punching and kicking them to the ground, one to the point of blacking out, as they tried to get into a taxi. 

They attacked their third victim in the Crown Street Mall, just a few hundred metres down the road.

Footage shows Nau kick the victim’s head from behind before the pair set upon him, punching, kicking and stomping on his skull until he too falls unconscious.

Shcwenke told the Mercury on Friday he was sorry for he’d done and the shame and embarrassment he’d caused his family.

“I never wished this upon myself or my family,” he said.

Claiming poor mental health had contributed to his level of intoxication and behaviour that night, Schwenke urged anyone struggling inside to seek professional help.

“If you have issues and you think it’s normal to hide them...if you’re going through things, get help,” he said.

“I had issues that I didn’t recognise I needed help with.​”