A Civic nightclub owner has described a single punch assault outside his venue as "sickening” and "brutal”, while expressing surprise at how long it took police to go public.
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Police were still hunting for the attacker on Tuesday, almost a month after he fractured a man’s skull and caused bleeding to his brain outside Academy on Bunda Street.
Confronting CCTV footage shows the man appearing to argue with a group outside the club, before the victim appears to walk away. The man follows and levels him with one forceful punch. The victim was knocked down and smashed his head on the pavement, leaving him unconscious and with serious injuries.
Despite the attack occurring on April 21, police only notified the public on Monday, when they released images in a bid to track down further witnesses.
Academy nightclub owner Frank Condi condemned the violence said the offender should face the consequences of his actions.
"When you see an attack like that...in other situations it could turn into an all-in brawl," he said.
Staff handed over CCTV footage of the incident within 24 hours and Mr Condi said he was "very surprised" police waited so long to publicise the attack and call for witnesses.
"Having said that, I wasn't there on the evening and I didn't see what happened and I don't know police procedures," he said.
His condemnation of the attack was echoed by the ACT’s Victims of Crime Commissioner, John Hinchey, who said reforms were needed, including trading-hours restrictions, before a young Canberran was killed.
"I’m worried that one day we’re going to find a young man dead because of these assaults in Civic late at night,” he said.
Police are yet to arrest the man, and CCTV vision appears to show the man was allowed to leave the scene. Mr Hinchey said that was a real concern.
But Mr Condi defended the actions of the nightclub's security guards, who were interviewed by police, saying one of the staff immediately rushed over to help the victim when he hit the ground.
"If there's ever an altercation we try and get in there and help," Mr Condi said. "Though we're very limited in what we can do. We have a no-violence policy and anything we see we try to dissolve right away."
Staff would review the venue's security procedures to prevent a similar incident from happening in future, Mr Condi said.
"Since it's been public we've posted a link to the police story on our Facebook page and we've been discussing with investigators whether we put signs up of the wanted man inside the club," he said.
"We're just trying to get as much information as we can."
Mr Condi said it was difficult to say whether alcohol-related violence had spiked in the city's centre in recent years, as he hadn't noticed a rise in incidents. He said responsibility for alcohol-related violence rested on both licensed venues and individuals.
"Obviously as a venue we have to make sure people don't get too intoxicated, because we don't want that kind of violence in the venue," he said.
Police Minister Simon Corbell declined to say when he was made aware of the April 21 incident. A spokesman said Mr Corbell would not comment on the decision by investigators not to release information to the public for nearly a month and declined to answer questions about what sort of crimes he was briefed on by ACT Policing.
In a statement, Mr Corbell said he was confident police were driving reductions in offence rates.
"Assault offences in the last quarter, when compared to the same time last year, show a decrease of 20 per cent," he said.
"Alcohol-related crime continues to place an unnecessary financial, social and health burden on the community and is an ongoing priority for ACT Policing."
Mr Corbell said the summer period saw a 39 per cent decrease in alcohol-related violence in the ACT compared with the previous year as well as a 22 per cent decrease in alcohol-related anti-social behaviour.
