A man who assaulted an acquaintance at a Balgownie venue, leaving him with facial fractures, has received a jail sentence - but has the opportunity to complete it in the community.
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Layne Frederick Buckley, 21, was sentenced in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to intimidation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
On the night of December 6 last year, Buckley and a friend turned up to the Collegians club in Balgownie and consumed a number of alcoholic drinks.
An acquaintance of Buckley's - a neighbour of a family member - and his partner were also at the club, where they had eaten and had drinks.
The victim and his partner were outside in the smoking area about 10.30pm when the accused sat down with them and engaged in conversation.
But after a few minutes, Buckley took offence to something the then-58-year-old victim said, became aggressive, and stood up.
Buckley put his forehead against the man's head and said something to the effect of, "Let's go, I'll punch you. We'll go right here, right now".
The victim's partner tried to separate the pair and calm Buckley down, but he picked up a bottle and said, "I'll glass the both of you". The victim and his partner tried to leave and walked towards the exit, but Buckley followed and again pressed his forehead against the victim.
The victim told Buckley they were going home and held out his arm to get distance between himself and Buckley.
Buckley responded by punching the man to the right eye and nose area, which caused the victim to fall back and hit his head on the tiles.
Paramedics attended and took the victim to Wollongong Hospital, where it was discovered he had fractures to his nose and below his right eye.
At the time of the assault, Buckley was nearing the end of a 12-month conditional release order for offences of domestic violence.
Magistrate Gabriel Fleming said Buckley's actions on that December night were "disgraceful" and he exhibited "a high level of violence about some silly altercation [he] had in a pub".
She noted Buckley was still a relatively young person, but warned him that if he did not devote himself to his rehabilitation, he risked going to jail for "a very long time".
Magistrate Fleming said there was no alternative but a sentence of imprisonment for Buckley's crimes, but the question was whether he was able to serve that sentence in the community.
She said Buckley had a limited record, was young, and had started rehabilitation.
Had he not already made efforts towards rehabilitation, Magistrate Fleming said, he would be going into custody.
Instead, Buckley was sentenced to a 15-month intensive corrections order, under which he must continue his drug and alcohol counselling and complete 100 hours of community service.
Buckley was also resentenced on the earlier domestic violence matters, for which he received an 18-month community corrections order.
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