A young Tasmanian man has avoided immediate jail after an “unprovoked and unwarranted” punch left his former friend unable to play video games and struggling with ongoing vision problems.
Jake Carbonari-Bishop, 22, was handed an eight-month suspended sentence in the Supreme Court after pleading guilty to assault over the November attack in Devonport.
The court heard the blow fractured the victim’s eye socket in several places and knocked him unconscious.
Only the quick reactions of a bystander prevented the falling victim from hitting the hard ground.
“It was by pure chance that [the bystander] caught him as he fell and thereby prevented him from hitting the concrete floor,” Justice Tamara Jago said.
The 22-year-old victim needed emergency reconstructive surgery at the Royal Hobart Hospital the next day.
Surgeons used a bone graft from his pelvis to rebuild the floor of his eye socket.
Months later, the court heard, he is still dealing with double vision and pain.
“Playing video games used to be one of his favourite past times. That has been taken from him as his eye no longer responds quickly enough to play such games,” Justice Jago said.
The assault happened on November 6, 2024, when both men turned up at a Devonport property.
Carbonari-Bishop spotted his former friend through a mirror in a shed and immediately launched the attack.
“You immediately approached him, lunged at him and punched him to the right side of his face with significant force,” Justice Jago said.
The pair had once been close friends, but the court heard a falling out had turned bitter.
“All too often, courts have dealt with matters where even a single punch can and does lead to life changing injury or even death,” Justice Jago added.
“Endeavouring to settle grievances using violence is a matter of significant community concern.”
Under the suspended sentence, Carbonari-Bishop will serve eight months in prison if he reoffends within the next two years.
