A man was left with a broken nose and broken jaw after being punched in the face, then kicked and beaten on the ground near a Shearwater roundabout, a Tasmanian court has heard.
Hayden Ricky Hall, 24, was handed a four-month suspended prison sentence in the Supreme Court this month after pleading guilty to one count of assault over the late-night attack.
The court heard the victim was walking with a friend along Club Drive shortly before midnight on February 4, 2023, when the pair crossed paths with Hall and his companion.
Words were exchanged near the intersection with Shearwater Boulevard and the situation quickly became heated.
Hall punched the victim once in the face, knocking him backwards onto the road, where he struck his head.
A second person then repeatedly punched and kicked the victim while he lay on the ground. Hall was not held criminally responsible for those later blows.
The victim managed to get up and run from the scene with his friend.
He was taken to hospital with a broken nose, a broken jawbone and bruising to the back of his head.
The court could not determine which injuries were caused by Hall’s punch and which were caused by the later attack.
Justice Tamara Jago said the violence was serious and dangerous.
“Striking another person to the head and face area is an inherently dangerous thing to do,” she said.
“You and others must understand that even a single blow may and often does cause serious injury and, in some circumstances, loss of life.”
Justice Jago said the victim would have found the incident traumatising and the injuries painful.
