A Canberra bar and café owner's assault on a busy Civic street has been described by a magistrate as "unprovoked" and a "self-indulgent piece of thuggery".
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Shayne Taylor faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday for sentencing on a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The 42-year-old owns and operates Cook bar To All My Friends, and adjacent café Little Oink, with his wife.
The incident occurred on December 11, 2022, on the evening of a Christmas party held for Taylor's employees, on Bunda Street opposite the Canberra Centre.
Taylor became belatedly involved in a fight involving an employee, happening outside cocktail bar The Pearl.
Prior to the assault in question, the group were having a disagreement about the music playing outside the bar.
One of the men involved is said to have "suddenly and without warning" punched Taylor's employee.
CCTV recorded the men yelling at each other, shortly after which Taylor exited the venue onto the street, joining the altercation.
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He is seen throwing punches towards the man who allegedly hit his employee.
Defence lawyer Michael Kukulies-Smith said Taylor was confronted by the sight of his employee "covered in blood" as a result of the previous altercation.
"Undoubtedly, [Taylor] acted inappropriately in response to seeing that," Mr Kukulies-Smith said.
The altercation continued with bystanders becoming involved.
The court heard the offender kicked the victim, who was by this time on the ground, in the head.
Video footage played in court on Monday showed that man seemingly unconscious after the head strike, laying limp on the floor for several minutes and unable to be sat up.
Mr Kukulies-Smith said his client had not caused the victim to fall to the ground in the first place.
Rather, the victim had fallen down due to an attempt to land a "haymaker-style punch" on Taylor.
Prosecutor Mark Wadsworth described the offending kick as "deplorable", "unnecessary and excessive".
Magistrate Robert Cook said the act of violence had been "unprovoked for a person who is now no longer a threat on the ground".
The magistrate also noted the "size disproportion is significant" between Taylor and a noticeably smaller victim.
The court heard Taylor expressed genuine remorse, "felt sick" and was "ashamed" of the act.
Mr Cook sentenced Taylor, who pleaded guilty to the charge in March, to a three-month jail term the magistrate elected to wholly suspend.
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Tim Piccione
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
