A Ravenswood man who punched a man and stole his bike was jealous about the man's text messages to the mother of his five children, the Supreme Court in Launceston heard.
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Ricky Lee Smith-Towns, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of assault and one count of stealing the $900 mountain bike in October 2018.
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Prosecutor Luke Ogden said Ziggy Hancock-Yost was riding through Ravenswood when he heard a scuffling noise behind him and then copped a punch to the left cheek.
The blow knocked him off his bike and Smith-Towns picked up the bike and walked off saying if he wanted it back he should follow him.
Hancock-Yost replied: "I'm not that stupid".
In a police interview, Smith-Towns told police that he wanted to talk to the man about frequent text messages to his estranged partner.
In May 2019 when he got out of jail he returned the bike to Mr Hancock-Yost who was happy to leave the incident behind but charges had already been laid.
The court heard that Mr Hancock-Yost had been required to give evidence on three occasions after a Supreme Court decision was quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Smith-Towns had 17 pages of prior conviction including three counts of assault.
Defence counsel Hannah Phillips said Smith-Towns was not motivated by financial gain but had wanted to talk to the complainant.
Justice Robert Pearce said the act was one of "arrogant thuggery".
"It was put to me that he could be sentenced to time already spent in custody [97 days] but in my view that is not long enough," Justice Pearce said.
"You are convicted and sentenced to five month imprisonment from October 19, 2019."
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