TRISTAN Andrew Tuthill had the option to walk away from a heated situation, but he chose instead to use violence against a man he did not know.
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Tuthill felled Shayne Thorpe, 41, with a single blow outside the Northern Club in Launceston, about 3.25am on September 22 last year.
Mr Thorpe's head struck the concrete pavement and he lay unconscious in a pool of blood.
He was placed in an induced coma in the Royal Hobart Hospital, where he stayed for seven weeks, with injuries including skull fractures and bleeding in his brain.
Tuthill, 28, said he acted in self-defence, but a Launceston Supreme Court jury rejected this claim and found him guilty of Criminal Code assault.
Yesterday, Justice Robert Pearce jailed Tuthill for nine months, wholly suspended for three years, and ordered him to perform 175 hours of community work.
Mr Thorpe was too shaky to visit court , but with the support of his parents Rod and Karen Thorpe, he spoke to The Examiner at home.
He was almost tearful at times, but he said he was once a physically able builder, now forced to work only eight hours a week.
Mr Thorpe did not believe he would ever make a full recovery.
Flowers from supporters sat on the dining room table with a card that said the writer was "praying for justice".
Mr Thorpe said in addition to his physical injuries, there was an emotional toll as well.
"No victim will ever be happy with what's given," he said of the sentence.
"I believe it should be a minimum of 18 months in jail and I think that's keeping a fairly level head.
"To get a nine-month suspended sentence, to give that to somebody who put a person within a quarter of a pinhead of their life, that is just . . . people's lives just mean nothing."
Rod Thorpe said he respected the justice system, which had its limits, but something had to change otherwise people would keep on being hurt.
Karen Thorpe said it was time people were made responsible for their actions.