A prominent Tasmanian footballer and boxer escaped immediate jail when Magistrate Sharon Cure sentenced him to a nine-month wholly-suspended prison term for three "very serious" CBD assaults in 2019.
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Dakota James Bannister, 24, of Newnham, pleaded guilty to striking a security guard at the Bakers Lane nightclub at 2.05am on December 21, 2019, and was found guilty of striking two men some hours later in George Street. Ms Cure also sentenced Bannister to 140 hours of community service in what she described as a difficult sentencing exercise.
"He is a young man with his life ahead of him and is a contributing member of the community," she said.
Ms Cure said the assaults were at the higher end of common assaults and were committed against people who were no threat to Bannister.
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Bakers Lane security guard William Kennewell was knocked unconscious by a blow to the face shortly after Bannister was evicted from the bar.
Ms Cure said the second victim Christopher Hughes was punched to the head and suffered a broken tooth which cost $9000 to repair. "He has suffered psychological effects," she said.
The third victim William Forrest was punched and knocked out.
"He suffered a severe gash to the back of the head which required eight to ten staples," she said.
"He took six months to recover his memory and is still suffering psychological effects." He told a hearing he lost six weeks of work.
During the hearing, a witness Hayden Reynolds said he had seen Mr Forrest lying on the pavement.
"He looked dead basically," he said. "He was unconscious and there was a pool of blood around his head and he was making a loud groaning noise." He said Mr Forrest came to after a minute or two.
Police prosecutor Matt Hills submitted photographs that showed Mr Forrest with two black eyes, a chipped tooth and the split on the back of his head.
Mr Reynolds gave evidence that a group of his friends were walking down George Street when a man hip and shouldered him "quite aggressively".
He said Mr Hughes was punched by Bannister after he stepped between two of the men.
Ms Cure said that Bannister fled the scene after the assaults.
She said that a referee had written that it would be a shame to see Bannister's life derailed after he had "done well for himself" after a difficult upbringing.
"But then Mr Hughes and Mr Forrest's lives and I assume Mr Kenewall's were derailed by these incidents," she said. Ms Cure said that young men full of alcohol and hubris out on the streets at night must be punished.
She said the police prosecution had submitted that she needed to send a message to thugs. The court heard that just four of 33 sentences for assault in the last 14 months were wholly suspended.
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