The number of drunken assaults in the city is dropping after a concerted campaign targeting such offending, according to a Warrnambool magistrate.
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Magistrate Jonathan Klestadt made the comment while convicting and fining Jordan Brown, 18, of Adam Court, who pleaded guilty to recklessly causing serious injury.
Brown was fined $1500 and banned from the Warrnambool central business district between 10pm and 6am for 12 months.
The court heard that Brown’s victim had fully recovered from the injuries he received in the assault.
“I would have thought anybody who spent time in this town during the past three or four years would know my attitude towards drunken violence,” Mr Klestadt told Brown.
“My perception is that there has been a reduction in this sort of offending. It is not acceptable to go out socialising, drink alcohol to excess and then engage in violence.”
Mr Klestadt said incidents very similar to Brown’s had led to serious and/or life-threatening injuries.
“I am not prepared to proceed without imposing a conviction. People need to know the consequences if they engage in such offending,” he said.
“If you had a history of violent offending I would have had no hesitation in imposing a community corrections order or a jail term.
“General denunciation and deterrence outweigh factors personal to you.”