Tony James Horan pleads guilty to assault in Drift Bar at Caloundra

A Moreton Bay foreman has admitted to striking a sitting punter in the head at a Sunshine Coast bar.

Tony James Horan faced Caloundra Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Picture: Sam Turner

A Morayfield concreting foreman will not serve time behind bars for “coward punching” an unsuspecting punter at a Caloundra venue.

Caloundra Magistrates Court was shown gritty closed circuit footage of Tony James Horan’s assault on another man at Drift Bar at Caloundra on June 1 last year.

In the footage, the 42-year-old can be seen in the pub speaking to someone seated at a chair just off screen before he let two punches fly to the man’s head.

The video showed Horan, who seemed to be unphased by his unprovoked attack, look around at the rest of the venue as security guards swamped the area and took him away.

Prosecutor Michael Quirk said the assault involved the 42-year-old “coward punching” the victim to the ground in a licenced premises, which led to injuries to the victim’s face.

Mr Quirk said the Morayfield man had a history of violent offences and even denied being involved in the attack when he spoke to police.

“He just stood there and drank his beer,” the prosecutor said.

“[Horan] may be showing remorse today but at the time he didn’t.”

Horan pleaded guilty. Picture: Sam Turner

Defence barrister Adam Mason said drug use marred Horan’s life in his 20s and 30s, which at one point led to him serving time in actual custody.

Mr Mason said this spurred Horan to remove negative influences from his life after his release, which led to a seven-year gap in his criminal history until he was charged with assault while adversely affected in September last year. He pleaded guilty in court on Tuesday.

The barrister said the Morayfield man wrote an apology letter to the victim and completed psychology sessions in the lead-up to his sentence. He still contended Horan was of good standing in the community and took steps towards positive change.

Magistrate Catherine Benson believed the 42-year-old expressed genuine remorse but said it was a significant and gratuitous incident of violence which he did not have a “clear memory” of.

She however did not want to interrupt his rehabilitation and granted him immediate parole on a 12-month jail sentence.

Horan must also pay the victim $2000 in compensation and perform 40 hours’ community service.