Magistrate Rodney Brender was scathing of Bradley Everson’s conduct.

If it wasn’t for the fact it was his first criminal conviction, he might have ended up in jail.

Everson was still sentenced to 12 months’ custody, but  will get to serve this in the community by way of an intensive corrections order.

“Kicking and punching people is an extremely serious crime. It’s a pretty serious assault,” Mr Brender told Everson.

The 20-year-old North Albury man pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and destroy or damage property.

Albury Local Court was told this week that Everson was a young person “who might have some prospects”.

But he was let down by his issues with alcohol, finding himself unable to stop once he started drinking.

The incident took place a year ago when Everson was still a teenager.

The victim, police said, went to the club on August 12, 2017, about 12.30am, having already had quite a few drinks at another Albury venue.

He had another five or six drinks then had to call it a night as the club began to close about 3am.

The man walked to the front entrance with his friends and on the way out the front door they asked a staff member to call them a cab.

As he and a mate waited, he chatted to Everson who suddenly began yelling “what have you done to me?”.

The victim and his friend walked away.

But Everson followed, then punched the victim twice to the face.

The force of the punch knocked him over. Everson kicked and punched him as he lay on the ground.

Police said the victim walked to his mate’s house and by the time they arrived, he was covered in blood and so had a shower and changed his clothes.

The victim had to go to Albury hospital to have treatment for a deep laceration to his chin and for swelling and bruising.

His phone, later recovered at the SS&A, was damaged beyond repair, for which Everson was fined $500.