A young Hobart man who went on two separate punching sprees after a night of consuming ‘far more alcohol than he usually did’ in Salamanca has avoided prison.
Jonty Bruce Penneyston, then 23, was “out of character” when he assaulted two people in the early hours of Saturday, 11 June last year, according to passing comments on his sentence by Chief Justice Alan Blow.
Justice Blow said that after leaving a bar in Salamanca Place with friends, Penneyston “without warning” assaulted a man, punching the victim in the face about ten times before kneeing him in the head and continuing to hit him as he lay on the ground.
It was only after Penneyston’s brother intervened that he was pulled him away from the man, who “did not make any attempt to fight back”.
The victim got up and left the area on foot. Police officers attempted to locate him, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
Around 30 minutes later, Penneyston and his friends got into another altercation with three men on nearby Murray Street, during which he punched another man in the face and left him unconscious.
He continued to throw punches as the man fell to the ground until his brother intervened once more.
The morning after the second assault, the victim went to the Royal Hobart Hospital with double vision, while it took Penneyston 10 days to voluntarily make his way to the Hobart Police Station, where he made “substantial admissions”.
The victim was found to have a mildly displaced fracture of the nose, possible mild concussion, pain, bruising, abrasions to his face, burst blood vessels in one eye and a split tooth.
Justice Blow said around 5 months before the attacks, Penneyston had pleaded guilty before a magistrate to a charge of disturbing the public peace by fighting, who did not record a conviction but adjourned the matter on an undertaking to be of good behaviour for 12 months.
“I accept that what he did on the night in question was out of character. It appears that he drank far more alcohol than he usually does prior to committing these assaults,” Justice Blow said.
“He was shocked to see his behaviour when police officers showed him the video footage. It counts in his favour that he cooperated with the police, made admissions to them, and indicated at an early stage that he would be pleading guilty.”
“His counsel told me that he regrets what he did and has moderated his drinking.”
He pleaded guilty to two assault charges and was subsequently sentenced to 3 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years, and 175 hours of community service.
