A man suffered life-altering head injuries after an argument about a tattoo outside a Civic nightclub led to a one-punch attack, a court has heard.
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But his attacker, Tyran Pumpa, 19, has escaped full-time jail for the one-punch assault, despite two previous convictions for alcohol-related violence.
The victim spent spent three days in a hospital neurosurgery unit and now has an increased risk of dementia, hearing difficulties and continuing pain, the court heard.
Pumpa appeared in the ACT Supreme Court to be sentenced, having pleaded guilty to one count of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Pumpa and the victim crossed paths outside the Mooseheads nightclub about 1am on March 8 last year.
An argument broke out after one of Pumpa's friends commented on a tattoo sported by a man who was with the victim.
CCTV footage, tendered in court, shows one of the men Pumpa was with shoving the victim.
The victim and his friends began to walk across London Circuit when Pumpa punched the victim in the head.
The blow knocked the victim out, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the road.
He suffered skull fractures, a brain bleed and ruptured left eardrum as a result.
The court heard Pumpa had previously been convicted for two violent assaults.
In May last year, he was handed a suspended sentence for assault occasioning actual bodily harm after breaking a man's jaw in a Gungahlin shopping centre.
He was also convicted of affray in July last year after police saw him punch a man in Civic.
A pre-sentence report said Pumpa had shown insight into his offending and the effects it had on the victim.
The court heard the offender had sought a meeting with the victim to apologise, which had been declined.
He had cut down on his alcohol intake and stopped going out in Civic.
Pumpa told the report's author that he had not previously known he could do the damage he inflicted on the victim.
But Justice Hilary Penfold rejected the claim, saying it was clear a single punch could have devastating consequences.
The judge sentenced Pumpa to two years and eight months in jail, to be served by way of one year of weekend detention, with the remainder suspended.
Pumpa was also ordered to sign a three-year good behaviour order and give a $1000 security.
Justice Penfold warned Pumpa he was on his "last chance".
She said young men needed to realise they did not have the luxury of drinking to intoxication and then lashing out at others.
