A passenger "trapped against a wall" has been brutally assaulted on an evening tram ride by a man having hallucinations.
Prosecutor Sam Carmichael described the victim as being "cornered in the back of the moving vehicle", with CCTV of the "completely unprovoked" attack confirming the depiction.
On Thursday, the 48-year-old offender, whom The Canberra Times has chosen not to name, was handed a wholly suspended three-month jail sentence and a 12-month good behaviour order.
The Reid man was also sentenced for two unrelated charges.
His attack took place in January 2023 at about 6.30pm on a light rail heading towards Gungahlin.
The victim, described by magistrate Robert Cook as an "unknown member of the public", was speaking on the phone at the driver end of the tram "otherwise minding his own business".
Video footage shows the attacker walk up to the victim without prompting before violently punching him six times in the face and head, causing him to fall to the ground.
The offender then walks away and sits down.
Legal Aid lawyer Brandon Bodel said his client, who is currently on a psychiatric treatment order, was suffering from schizophrenia-induced hallucinations at the time of the assault.
According to court documents, the man wrongly thought the victim had made comments about his sexuality.
The attack, the court heard, was "clearly mental health related". Mr Cook said the man had been in and out of hospital for years.
Due to the overwhelmingly strong prosecution case against the man and CCTV clearly depicting him carrying out the attack, the magistrate opted not to give him a discount for his guilty plea.
"I'm not quite understanding if I'm going to jail," the attacker said after learning about his community-based sentence.
Mr Cook responded: "Only if you reoffend."
