A chocolate thief has told a court he feels "terrible" after watching CCTV footage that shows him punching a Canberra petrol station attendant while heavily intoxicated.
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This remark prompted magistrate James Lawton to urge Corey Ayling to "imagine what it felt like for that man who was just doing his job when you gave him a flogging for no good reason".
Ayling, 27, appeared before Mr Lawton for sentence in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday, having previously pleaded guilty to two assault charges.
He had also admitted single counts of minor theft, property damage, improper use of a motor vehicle and driving while unlicensed.
Court documents show Ayling was on conditional liberty at the time of his offending in May.
On the night in question, he and a friend pulled up at the Fyshwick 7-Eleven in a purple Ford Falcon with no number plates.
The pair kicked off and became verbally abusive when the attendant told them they would have to pre-pay for fuel given the late hour.
They stole Mars Bars from the store, prompting the attendant to confront them.
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Ayling punched the man three times, including once to the left side of the head, while his co-offender landed three or four blows to the attendant's mouth.
Another man, who witnessed this, came to the attendant's aid only to be punched as well.
Both offenders pushed items off the 7-Eleven counter before heading outside, with Ayling booting the front door off its tracks prior to leaving the scene.
Police later found Ayling, who did a burnout as he exited the petrol station, sitting in a dam west of the Narrabundah Velodrome.
Officers believed him to be "highly affected by an intoxicating substance", and Ayling, who has been in custody ever since, told the court on Thursday that he could not remember any of what happened that night.
His lawyer, Elizabeth West, said the incident had been a wake-up call that had helped the 27-year-old realise he "made stupid decisions while under the influence".
Ms West told the court Ayling's offending had undone good progress he had been making in his life, with his remand in custody costing him a job among other things.
She also said his seven-year relationship had been breaking down at the relevant time.
Prosecutor Lauren Knobel said Ayling had inflicted "significant violence" upon the victims, noting that the 7-Eleven staffer should have felt safe in his own workplace.
She submitted that the threshold for a jail sentence had been "clearly crossed".
Mr Lawton ultimately imposed a 12-month intensive correction order, which is a type of jail sentence that can be served in the community.
In doing so, he took into account that Ayling had already spent a number of months behind bars on remand.
The sentence will not begin until early January, with Ayling still having to serve out the rest of a previous term after the Sentence Administration Board cancelled a grant of parole.
Mr Lawton urged Ayling to turn his back on alcohol and drugs, warning him that continuing to use them would put him on "a downward spiral" involving repeated incarcerations.
The magistrate added that people should not be assaulted for simply doing their jobs, telling Ayling to remember "the full horror" of the CCTV footage played in court whenever he was tempted to turn to substances.
In addition to the intensive correction order, Ayling was fined $5500. Mr Lawton gave him no time to pay, meaning the fines will be acquitted by time spent in custody.
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