A Sydney man has been sentenced to 16 months’ jail for hitting a man in the jaw and neck with a beer bottle during a fight at Lake Conjola.
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Steven Arnold Rizzon 26, of Kingswood pleaded guilty to reckless wounding in Nowra Local Court on Friday.
Court documents said late on the evening of November 29, 2014 an argument broke out between two groups at a Lake Conjola park after a beer bottle had been thrown at a car.
Two people who were walking on the side of the road threw a bottle at the car the victim was travelling in, after another passenger had yelled at the pedestrians.
A short time later another group of males, including Rizzon, arrived at the park.
Rizzon approached the victim, who was standing alongside a vehicle and hit him on the left side of his jaw and neck with the bottle. The victim stumbled back and sought refuge in the car, where Rizzon tried to continue the assault.
A female intervened and hit Rizzon with a stick, forcing him to slip down an embankment.
The victim left shortly after and was treated by paramedics at his home before being taken to Shoalhaven District Hospital where stitches were inserted into the wound.
The court heard Rizzon was identified the following day by witnesses and the victim from his profile picture on Facebook.
Later, evidence was collected from Rizzon’s former girlfriend, who he had sent text messages to admitting to the attack, saying “This is what happens when you leave me unsupervised,” along with a link to an online article reporting the incident.
Rizzon went on to say “The guy put me on show in front of my mates….it was the other guys fault. He shouldn’t have embarrassed me in front of my mates. He was asking for it.”
Rizzon told police he had not visited the Lake Conjola park in three years, however, a photograph taken on the night showed him to be present on the night of the assault.
Magistrate Gabriel Fleming said there was no alternative to jail and sentenced him to 16 months’ prison with a non-parole period of four months.
He will be eligible for parole on December 28, 2016.