A victim impact statement was read out when Peter Mansell, 37, appeared in the Warrnambool Koori Court on Friday facing charges of reckless injury and threats to kill.

The court was told Mr Mansell was driving with the victim when he pulled over on the outskirts of Framlingham on February 20 last year and said: "Do you want to die?"

"I've always fantasised about killing someone, this is your day to die," Mr Mansell reportedly said.

Mr Mansell punched the victim in the head three times, before punching him in the chest as he tried to flee, the court was told.

He told the "terrified" victim "you're going to f***ing die today" while laughing and filming the assault on his phone.

When the victim pleaded for him to stop, Mr Mansell allegedly told him to get back in the car.

The victim woke on the side of a road unable to see or hear and covered in blood with lacerations all over his body, according to a witness who drove past around 6am on February 21, 2021.

He was taken to Warrnambool Base Hospital with extensive injuries.

The court was told police found the accused at the victim's home, and arrested him after a pursuit on foot.

Police found blood in the interior and tray of a ute along with blood-splattered clothes, and blood on the front porch, bathroom, and on Smirnoff cans he had been drinking at the time of the attack.

Police also located a pool of blood on the road and further blood in the grass scattered along the road where the victim was found and deduced the victim had run and attempted to hide across various locations.

Medical records show the victim sustained a number of injuries including severe bruising, a fractured eye socket and rib and bleeding on the brain.

In an impact statement the victim said he and his family had suffered due to the attack.

"I suffered physical injury, loss of memory, a full dental reconstruction, was placed on life support for bleeding on the brain, swelling, multiple facial injuries, am unable to smell or taste, require nasal surgery, had multiple bone injuries including knee, rib, skull, jaw and eye socket," the victim said.

"[I] was in hospital for a week with a period in the Melbourne Trauma Unit; financially impacted with no confidence to return to employment, lack of funds for ongoing nasal injury, social impacts of constantly being on edge, socially withdrawn, have a loss of trust in others, difficulty constructing sentences and finding the right words which is a cause of frustration, have an emotionally low mood, am sad, angry and devastated by the loss of the friend who perpetrated the crime, and sad at my daughter and family having to see me on life support."

William Barker, representing Mr Mansell, said his client hadsuffered from post traumatic stress disorder as a result of early traumas.

He also detailed a history of similar offences, some which he served terms of imprisonment for, and suggested a period at the Aboriginal Healing Centre in Mildura.

"What does the court do with a person who has come before the court a range of times involved in violence - such unprovoked and unnecessary and nonsensical violence - what does the court do?

"What is available to Mr Mansell is something that has never been available to him in the past, something he has never gone to, and is nothing even close to what has been available to him.

"For Mr Mansell the cultural connections, education, and influences of cultural leaders are all things he never got as a child.

"Now that Mr Mansell is 37 with a young child of his own this may be the only possible answer to stem or prevent Mr Mansell being included in the flow of Aboriginal community members going into prison in large numbers."

The court heard Mr Mansell endured a "tragedy" of an upbringing and lived a life of loneliness and fear.

He suffered abuse at the hands of his father, and his mother suicided.

He left home at 18 "destined for this type of lifestyle", Mr Barker said.

Police prosecutor Wendy Duncan said Mr Mansell had a long history of similar assaults, some of them very serious.

"It is totally inappropriate for rehab to be offered at this stage," Ms Duncan said. "An immediate jail term with a non-parole period is the most appropriate course of action.

"The victim did make it quite clear it was terrifying to be in the car with this friend who suddenly turns on him and said and did what he did, not to mention he was just left beside the road.

"The victim made it clear he did believe the threat."

Magistrate Nunzio La Rosa deferred the matter but told Mr Mansell he could serve jail time.

"To defer the matter is not deflecting for one moment the matters put before the court; the seriousness of the offending and gratuitous violence," Mr La Rosa said.

"But the court is of the view a bed is available, the accused has come before Koori Court rather than mainstream and is prepared to engage in a challenging period.

"This is not to be taken as an outcome of the appearing date, it's simply taking the opportunity that presents itself."

The matter has been adjourned to the Warrnambool Magistrates' Court on May 6.

IN OTHER NEWS: