Joshua Daniel Wilson, of Launceston,  is charged with an assault that included a kick to the head of  David Fyfe that broke his jaw outside Lloyds Hotel in 2011. 

Mr Wilson is defending the charge on the basis that his actions were self-defence. 

Both men had been drinking at Lloyds before the altercation.  

Yesterday in Launceston, Justice Helen Wood directed the jury to put aside ``views you may have about  violence on our streets''. 

Earlier defence counsel Adrian Hall had told them it would be unfair to convict his client by being swayed by the media debate over alcohol and  violence. 

Mr Wilson has not denied attacking Mr Fyfe but said it was necessary to defend himself.

Footage of the altercation was played in court showing the accused kicking and punching Mr Fyfe. 

Mr Hall said his client may have been ``dancing like Muhammad Ali'' but he was doing so for a reason. 

Mr Wilson had earlier told the court he was glassed in Lloyds by a man, punched as he walked out of the pub and then confronted by another man -  Mr Fyfe - shaping up to him. 

``I was scared -  I'd been attacked how many times, I didn't  know what to do,'' he said.

But Crown prosecutor Steve Eley described it a ``surprise attack''  by someone who was  the aggressor in the encounter. 

``He steps up landing blows on David Fyfe and finishes off with a kick to the head while David Fyfe is falling,'' Mr  Eley  said. 

``Is that someone defending themself or someone intent on causing damage?''