A gatecrasher who bashed a student celebrating the completion of his PhD, smashing his glasses and leaving him permanently disfigured, has been sentenced to weekend detention for eight months.
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The doctorate of philosophy student was partying with friends at home in Dickson about midnight on May 20 last year, and had begun farewelling some of his guests.
As he stood at the door, he noticed David Rice, then 18, and a group of other young men walking down the street.
Rice and one other man walked up to the victim, asking whether they could come inside.
The student said he couldn't let them in and didn't know who they were, before telling them to leave.
"Nah, I think we'll stay," Rice said.
The victim blocked the front door with his arm, and told them to leave.
Rice spat in his face, and the victim said "get the f--- off my property".
The student pushed Rice, and the offender then began repeatedly punching the student in the head.
The student's glasses were smashed, and he fell to the floor.
A melee ensued between the other guests and Rice's friends, one of whom dragged the victim back inside the house to safety.
The student suffered a severe skull fracture above his right eye, that included a 15mm separation and a 3mm depression of the bone.
That has caused permanent disfigurement, with a noticeable indent of the skull above the right eye, and the potential for permanent chronic sinus problems.
Rice was summonsed to court over the assault and bailed in August that year.
But just one day before his next court appearance, Rice again found himself in trouble.
He got on an ACTION bus at the city interchange on September 20, and refused to show the driver his concession card, despite only paying $2.
The driver called his supervisor, who asked Rice to leave the bus.
The offender became abusive and erratic, and the supervisor left to contact police.
But Rice exited the bus, walked up to the supervisor and attempted to give him a "Liverpool kiss", or a headbutt, the court heard.
The supervisor dodged the attack, and Rice was arrested and charged with common assault.
He was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday for one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm relating to the attack on the student, with Acting Justice John Nield also taking the common assault into account.
The court heard Rice had a relatively stable upbringing, and was a good student who received impressive grades.
He studied disability care at the Canberra Institute of Technology, and was now working at a Canberra school as part of the school-based apprenticeship scheme.
He was drunk at the time of the offence, and had shown remorse and accepted responsibility, the court heard.
Rice has stopped drinking since, and has disassociated from his old friends.
The assault was also his first offence, and his likelihood of reoffending was regarded as low.
But Justice Nield said the impact on the victim could not be ignored or overlooked.
He said the attack was "as unexpected and unprovoked as it was unlawful and vicious", and was aggravated because it took place at the victim's front door.
The victim no longer feels safe in his own home, and is planning to move to Melbourne to continue with his studies.
Justice Nield sentenced Rice to 12 months prison, eight months of which would be served by periodic detention.
The remaining four months of the sentence will be suspended.
