A MAGISTRATE has condemned coward's punch attacks as "mindless violence" that cannot be tolerated in a civilised society.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mixed martial arts fighter Jordan Charles Garcie, 20, was jailed yesterday after he was found guilty of two unprovoked assaults in Charles Street, Launceston.
The Invermay man sat in the dock in the Launceston Magistrates Court after a week remanded in custody.
Magistrate Reg Marron delivered Garcie's sentence, prepared by magistrate Tim Hill, who was unwell.
Mr Marron jailed Garcie for five months, backdated to July 4, with the last two months suspended for 18 months.
He said Garcie's two victims suffered significant, distressing injuries, including a fractured jaw and knocked out teeth.
The two men were unknown to Garcie and the attacks were unprovoked.
Garcie struck his first victim to the face inside late-night takeaway outlet Pizza Kom in the early hours of August 11 last year.
The man fell to the floor and blacked out for a short time.
Garcie hit his second victim in the face, knocking him to the ground in the street, after the man had asked Garcie if he had hit his friend.
"Neither of these men did anything to provoke this attack," Mr Marron said.
"The second man posed no threat to you at all."
Mr Marron noted that Garcie had a conviction for a serious "elbow strike" assault, committed about a month earlier than the Charles Street offence, for which he was serving a suspended sentence.
However, Mr Marron acknowledged it was not considered a prior conviction for the current matter.