Man suffers broken rib in alcohol-fuelled attack outside Warrnambool nightclub

The perpetrator, a 23-year-old Warrnambool man who The Standard has chosen not to name because a conviction wasn't recorded, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Monday, August 21, to recklessly causing injury.

The court heard the two men weren't known to each other but had been drinking alcohol at Warrnambool's Seanchai Hotel from 7pm on February 17.

They left at 1.30am and were standing outside talking in the rear car park.

The offender grabbed the victim around the neck and pushed him over a metal bench, holding him down for a short period of time as he told him to "tap out".

The victim suffered chest pain, a broken rib and bruising on his arms, back and side.

The offender attended Warrnambool police station on April 2.

He told police he had warned the victim to "back up" and didn't "try to hurt him".

"All I did was put him in a choke hold," the man told police.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge questioned the man's remorse.

He said the offender needed to learn how to resolve a conflict, or just walk away.

"This court routinely imprisons young men for that kind of violence," Mr Lethbridge warned.

"For a 23-year-old to go to jail, it is something the court has described as having catastrophic effects on that individual."

Jarrod Lee, representing the offender, urged the court to consider a fine without conviction, noting the man's age and lack of prior criminal history.

He said his client had suffered "relentless bullying" growing up and had recently self-referred to alcohol abuse counselling, which was yet to commence.

The offender was placed on a good behaviour bond for two years, with a condition he pay $1500 to the court fund.

In an unrelated incident, a 22-year-old man admitted climbing onto the roof of Warrnambool's Highline Bar and Lounge on Christmas Day last year.

When the man was refused entry, he walked to a rear laneway and climbed onto a nearby building and across four roof tops before laying on wire meshing on top of the club's dance floor.

He repeatedly refused staff and then police requests to get down.

The man fled the scene but was chased down by officers who deployed OC spray.

He refused to put his hands behind his back but was eventually overpowered and was arrested and conveyed to the Warrnambool police station.

The court heard the man was training to be a security guard and a conviction on his record would impact that.

The man was placed on the diversion program for 12 months. Under that program he must be of good behaviour and take part in mental health treatment in order to avoid a conviction.

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