A Queanbeyan footballer has been locked up after he "ragdolled" a bowling club patron and treated the man like "a punching bag" in attacks he tried to pass off as self-defence and defence of others.
Removalist and amateur cross-code sportsman Simione Latu, 26, was sentenced in Queanbeyan Local Court on Monday to 14 months in jail.
A woman sitting beside him sobbed as prison guards handcuffed Latu, who was ordered to serve eight months of the term before becoming eligible for parole.
Magistrate Roger Clisdell, who imposed the sentence, had previously found the 26-year-old local man guilty of common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a contested hearing in July.
When the matter came back before him for sentencing on Monday, Mr Clisdell outlined Latu's "history of violence".
He said the 26-year-old's criminal record included a conviction for recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm, and a more recent assault in which the man had been involved in "a fracas with a schoolteacher".
The magistrate said the latest episode occurred in May last year, when CCTV footage from the Campbell & George bowling club showed Latu engaging in what he called "gratuitous violence" during a scuffle.
"After there had been an intervention by security staff, Mr Latu just ragdolls the victim across the front of the bar," Mr Clisdell said, adding that the other man "incredibly" gave evidence of not remembering this.
He went on to say the victim's memory loss may well have stemmed from what later happened outside the venue.
The court heard that as the victim waited for a ride home, he saw Latu "approaching at pace".
Mr Clisdell said the man decided "the best form of defence was attack" and threw a punch, but it was not a very good one and he ended up on the ground.
"The end result was this was the classic case of alcohol-fuelled violence," the magistrate said, describing how an intoxicated had Latu proceeded to attack the defenceless victim.
As a consequence of what Mr Clisdell described as "extreme violence" outside the club, the victim suffered eye injuries.
"He didn't deserve to be ragdolled across the floor of the bar," the magistrate said of the victim.
"He didn't deserve to be assaulted while he was on the ground, to the point he suffered significant injuries to his eye. He didn't deserve to be a punching bag."
Mr Clisdell said defence lawyer Andrew Byrnes had "left no stone unturned" when arguing against Latu, a former Queanbeyan Kangaroos rugby league player who had recently started representing the Queanbeyan Whites union side, being incarcerated.
But the magistrate ultimately found previous community-based sentences had failed to adequately protect the public from Latu, who was lucky his latest victim's injuries had not been worse.
"He triggers, hits and injures," Mr Clisdell said of the offender.
Latu will become eligible for parole in May next year.
