A Ballarat magistrate says it is "incomprehensible" how three Warrnambool teenagers on their way home from playing table tennis became the target of serious and random violence.
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The three teenagers were involved in an incident with three Ballarat district men near the intersection of Banyan and Cramer streets about 12.50am on January 21 last year.
A then Warrnambool 17-year-old was punched to the face and fell to the ground before a soccer ball-style kick was delivered directly to his head.
He was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and has undertaken extensive rehabilitation.
The second 16-year-old victim was headbutted with such force he was flung halfway across the street.
When the victims' female friend tried to intervene, she was pushed away.
Jayden Stanley Blomley, of Smythes Road, Delacombe, was sentenced in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Friday.
He was one of the three men charged over the attack.
Brody Harrison Burke, of Scarsdale-Pitsfield Road, Cape Clear, and Bon Dylan Pails, of Warrina Drive, Delacombe, were sentenced in July.
Blomley pleaded guilty to recklessly causing injury and was placed on a 12-month community corrections order with the conditions he donate $1600 to Warrnambool Base Hospital and undergo treatment for alcohol abuse.
Magistrate Letizia Torres said the victims did nothing to provoke the attack which was "difficult to watch", "confronting" and "upsetting".
"It is incomprehensible to me how they became victims to such serious and random violence," she said.
"The level of violence is disgusting."
The magistrate said although it was not known why the attack occurred, it "was clear that Burke started the attack".
She said Blomley played a lesser role in the offending but "assisted in and encouraged" the violence.
She said he remained "aggressive" throughout the entire incident.
The court heard the then 17-year-old victim suffered fractures around his cheek, as well as ongoing problems such as issues with memory, concentration, headaches and poor sleep.
The victim also suffered post traumatic stress disorder, significant anxiety and shortness of temper.
The magistrate said Blomley was a youthful offender with excellent prospects of rehabilitation.
She said that since the offending, he had removed negative friendships from his life and stopped using alcohol excessively.
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