A serial criminal described as a "lovely, kind soul" kicked a man in the face and split his lip during what a judge has called an "unprovoked and unnecessary" attack.
Zoran Troselj, 50, spent two weeks in custody over the incident, but avoided further time behind bars when he was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court to a fully suspended 20-month jail term.
Sentencing remarks, published on Thursday, show Acting Justice Stephen Norrish imposed that sentence last week after Troselj pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The judge said Troselj had committed the offence in November 2019, when the offender had turned up at the victim's Canberra home one morning at 9am.
A confrontation ensued as Troselj, in a display of what Acting Justice Norrish called "obsessive behaviour", expressed concerns some of his belongings were in the home.
The victim looked around for any of Troselj's things and tried, in vain, "to speak reason to the offender", according to the judge.
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"In the course of the altercation over this property ... the offender kicked [the victim] in the head, causing a laceration to his bottom lip," Acting Justice Norrish said.
"The offender was asked to calm down and leave, and the victim then ran to seek assistance."
When Troselj was arrested about half an hour later, he told police he had methamphetamine in his possession.
Officers accordingly searched him and found just under a gram of the illicit substance, over which the 50-year-old pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing a drug of dependence.
Acting Justice Norrish said, in sentencing, that Troselj had enjoyed "a close relationship" with the victim, having apparently lived in the man's car "at various times" while he was homeless.
Turning to the day in question, the judge described the assault, in the victim's own home, as "unprovoked and unnecessary".
He also noted Troselj's decades-long criminal history, which included a three-year jail sentence for aggravated robbery.
Much was made of Troselj's history of mental health issues, with the court told he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, anti-social personality disorder and substance use disorder.
Acting Justice Norrish said the 50-year-old was receiving mandatory treatment under mental health legislation and that his issues were generally well-managed, though his substance use posed problems from time to time.
He referred to a report from Directions, a community-based organisation that deals with addiction issues, saying it described Troselj being "highly motivated" to address his drug problem.
"The report refers to the offender as a 'lovely, kind soul' who has 'suffered much'," Acting Justice Norrish said in his remarks.
Lawyers for Troselj and the prosecution ultimately agreed a jail sentence was necessary for the assault, with the judge opting for a suspended term and an associated good behaviour order.
In relation to the drug possession charge, Acting Justice Norrish sentenced Troselj to the rising of the court.
