A man with a string of violent convictions has been jailed for punching his neighbour in the face three times during a dispute over an unpaid $250 debt.
Samuel William David Maple, 36, pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Tasmania earlier this month.
The court heard Maple attacked the man outside his home on March 5, 2022.
The pair were neighbours. Maple had borrowed $250 from the man days earlier but was slow to pay it back.
On the night of the assault, the man knocked on Maple’s door around 8:20pm. The court heard he was very drunk.
He had earlier shown another neighbour a retractable police baton and knuckledusters and said he was going to “put it on” Maple, the court heard.
Maple came outside and punched the man to the head, knocking him down the front steps.
He told the man to “f–k off” before hitting him again.
When the man tried to leave, Maple followed him down the driveway and punched him a third time to the face.
The man suffered a fractured cheekbone, a broken jaw, nerve damage and a cut above his eye. He needed surgery and still has blurry vision in one eye.
Maple claimed he acted in self-defence, but Justice Kate Cuthbertson found the force was excessive.
“… There was no need to react in the way that you did,” she said.
Cuthbertson said Maple had accumulated “a considerable number” of violent offences, several involving him “delivering significant blows to people’s heads and particularly their jaw area”.
“Your comments to police during the course of your interview suggests this is a particular strategy you employ to knock out those who are unfortunate enough to fall victim to your conduct,” she said.
“The risk of such violence causing serious, if not permanent injury, is obvious.”
Maple was sentenced to nine months in prison, on top of sentences he is already serving.
He will not be eligible for parole until he has served half the term.
