A young Tasmanian man with a history of violent offending has been jailed for two years over a “brutal and sustained” street assault that left his victim unconscious with multiple facial fractures.
Liam Brown, 22, was sentenced in the Supreme Court after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm in an attack witnessed by the victim’s parents.
The court heard Brown saw his victim standing alone on a street in Somerset, in the state’s north-west, while being driven by his partner on the afternoon of June 9 last year.
He told her to pull over and approached the man, sparking a verbal argument that escalated despite efforts by the victim’s mother to calm things down.
Brown grabbed the victim’s shirt and headbutted him before landing a series of punches to his face.
When the victim collapsed unconscious, Brown kept going, delivering two more blows to his head as he lay on the ground.
The man was rushed to hospital with serious injuries, including fractures to his nose, eye socket, cheek and jaw, as well as displaced teeth and fluid behind his eyes.
Surgeons had to insert metal plates and screws to repair his fractured jaw during emergency surgery.
“Your actions in continuing to punch the complainant to the head when he was lying unconscious on the ground are particularly concerning,” Justice Michael Brett said.
He said Brown had “actually foresaw the likelihood of serious injury to the complainant but you proceeded with your attack nonetheless”.
The court heard Brown has a long history of violent behaviour, with prior convictions for assault and family violence offences dating back to his youth.
Since the assault, he has received further prison sentences for family violence matters and has been formally declared a serial family violence offender.
Brown claimed he lashed out after being insulted, but Justice Brett said that did not justify “the extent of the violence perpetrated”.
His lawyers asked for leniency, pointing to his early guilty plea and claims he wanted to change after becoming a father.
Justice Brett accepted those factors but said only a “significant term of imprisonment” could denounce such violence and deter others.
Brown received a reduced sentence for pleading guilty early, with Justice Brett noting it would otherwise have been two and a half years.
He will be eligible for parole after serving 12 months. His sentence officially began in May, when he was already in custody for other matters.
