An award-winning Unanderra tradie committed a "dog act" when he coward punched a patron outside Fever Nightclub, leaving him splayed on the footpath with a shattered jaw, a court has heard.
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Brian Anthony John Foot was drunk and depressed after a relationship breakdown when he walked up beside the victim in the early hours of September 15 last year and coward punched him to the face with his right fist following an earlier dispute between their friends inside the nightclub.
A security guard who witnessed the incident described hearing a "terrible crack and pop sound" when Foot's fist hit the victim.
Foot narrowly avoided a jail sentence in Wollongong District Court on Friday, with Judge Andrew Heasler imposing an 18-month intensive corrections order.
As part of the order, Foot will have to perform 350 hours of unpaid community service work.
"Not for the first time do I say Wollongong has a justifiable reputation as a place to visit and a place to where people can go out at night without generally the risk they will end up in hospital suffering from injuries," Judge Haesler said in delivering his sentence on Friday afternoon.
"But there are occasions when people think that it's somehow alright to engage in acts of violence against others at such venues.
"They think the consequences will be minor and they wrongly think they will be treated with leniency if they are caught."
An agreed set of police facts tendered to Wollongong District Court said two men (one of Foot's friends and a friend of the victim's) got into a fight inside the nightclub just before 4am, prompting security guards to throw both groups of men out of the club.
The victim was standing outside speaking to his friend when Foot came up behind him and took a wide swing with his right arm, hitting the victim in the side of the face.
The man slumped to the ground, with blood seen coming from his mouth.
A female friend of the victim then confronted Foot's friend, saying "your friend hit mine. Why? He didn't do anything to you."
Foot's friend replied "I know, it was a dog act".
Foot ran from the scene but was later identified through the nightclub's identification database.
Meanwhile, the victim was taken to hospital and underwent surgery to fix significant fractures in his jaw.
Doctors said the assault left him with trismus (spasms in the jaw muscle), split gums, a missing tooth and floating bone fragments due to multiple fractures.
He had plates and screws inserted into the jaw and remained in hospital eight days. He was on a liquid diet for six weeks afterwards.
Foot was charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent but eventually agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm in a plea deal with prosecutors.
In court on Friday, defence barrister Michael Pickin argued for leniency for his client, noting Foot had not used any weapons in the assault and the victim's injuries were not life-threatening.
He said Foot had no prior record, worked as a glazier to support his family and was a former NSW Apprentice of the Year nominee.
"I would submit your Honour and the community would regard his general character as exemplary," Mr Pickin said.
"He is genuinely remorseful and most unlikely to reoffend."
In imposing the ICO in lieu of a full-time jail sentence, Judge Haesler was quick to note such a sentence was not lenient.
"ICOs are burdensome - a breach has dire consequences," he said.