Masked thug's relentless steel bar attack on stranger

A Sunshine Coast thug has avoided jail despite brutally bashing a random stranger with a steel bar while masking his face during the assault.

George Michael Keith Nielsen brutally bashed a random stranger with a steel pipe, leaving the man with a gaping head, broken bone and bruising. Picture: Sherele Moody

A SUNSHINE Coast thug has avoided jail despite brutally bashing a random stranger with a steel bar while masking his face during the assault.

George Michael Keith Nielsen faced Brisbane District Court on Monday, pleading guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm while armed.

He also pleaded guilty to a number of drug related offences.

The father of a young baby was given immediate parole despite Judge Julie Ryrie noting the bashing was an "escalation" in Nielsen's criminal behaviour.

The 27-year-old would-be music producer wrapped a T-shirt around his face so only his eyes were showing for the December 2018 attack.

CCTV footage played to the court shows Nielsen jumping from the passenger seat of a car that stopped in front of a backpacker hostel in Brisbane.

In the film, he races over to a man who is sitting on small brick fence and who appears totally oblivious until Nielsen smashes him around the back of the head with the length of pipe.

The man tried to get away but Nielsen kept on hitting him, causing a broken bone, severe bruising and a deep slash to his head that needed stitches.

The victim had never seen his attacker before and there was no reason given for the assault.

The Buderim man did write a letter to the court, which heard he was "remorseful and sorry".

Judge Ryrie took this onboard but also pointed out Nielsen had a "history of persistent poor behaviour" including a number of public nuisance offences that were described by the Crown as "violent".

Judge Ryrie acknowledged Nielsen had problems related to drug use, that he had been substance free for about a month and that his plea of guilty was an early one.

However, she warned him he was on his last chance and that if he came before the court again he would go to prison.

Nielsen was given an 18-month prison term with immediate parole. - NewsRegional

Originally published as Masked thug's relentless steel bar attack on stranger