ACT Magistrates Court sentences Riley Fleming over attack outside Mooseheads

But Riley Fleming has been spared time behind bars, with sentencing remarks published on Tuesday showing he recently received a wholly suspended jail term.

Fleming, 18, pleaded guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court to charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and escaping lawful custody.

Special magistrate Sean Richter said Fleming was outside Mooseheads, in Civic, when a large group of men "spilled out" of the nightclub about 2.45am on January 21.

The victim said something to Fleming, prompting the 18-year-old to punch him in the face.

Mr Richter said the incident, captured on CCTV footage that was "appalling to watch", showed the victim falling to the ground.

Fleming left the scene but police later found him, with the help of a bystander who identified him as the assailant.

"On being arrested by a police officer, he broke free and ran off," Mr Richter said during sentencing.

"The ensuing foot chase covers several hundred metres and lasts for only three or four minutes.

"[Fleming]'s action in punching the victim was, to say the least, cowardly."

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While Mr Richter accepted there was "some provocation in the words used by the victim", he rejected assertions of excessive self-defence and called Fleming's response "wholly inexcusable".

"There is no suggestion that the victim was any threat to any person at the time the defendant ran up to him and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground," the magistrate said.

Mr Richter noted the victim had provided a statement to the court, detailing how he had to take a week-and-a-half off work because of the injury he received.

The magistrate also commented on one-punch attacks, reflecting on the "significant need for general deterrence of violent conduct by young men occurring in or near licensed drinking establishments".

"In this case, the defendant is fortunate that no greater harm was caused to victim," Mr Richter said.

"The prevalence of assaults outside of licensed premises in the early hours of the morning is an issue in every city in Australia."

The court heard character references tendered on behalf of Fleming, an apprentice carpenter, painted a picture of a "caring and considerate" young man who worked hard.

The author of a court duty report wrote that the teenager had expressed empathy for his victim and identified the nexus between drinking and poor decision-making.

"He has provided me a letter in which he acknowledges that he has let his family and himself down, as well as causing harm to another person," Mr Richter added.

"I have no difficulty accepting that if he could turn back the clock, he would want to do everything differently."

Mr Richter ultimately found the threshold for a jail sentence had been crossed.

"The violence visited upon the victim was so dramatic that it cannot in any way be justified," he said.

But Mr Richter accepted what the ACT Supreme Court had said in previous cases about rehabilitation being at the forefront of sentencing considerations for young offenders.

"I am hopeful that this offending is an aberration," the magistrate said.

"In my view the pathway to rehabilitation is through suspending the sentences of imprisonment and placing [Fleming] on a bond to be of good behaviour."

Mr Richter accordingly sentenced Fleming to a term of three months and 18 days in jail, which was suspended upon the teenager signing an 18-month good behaviour order.

While subject to the order, Fleming must attend educational programs or counselling as directed.

Mr Richter said that was particularly so in relation to anger management and the consumption of alcohol.

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