A Lavington man has inflicted an attack so violent that a magistrate says his mental health issues are not enough to avoid a jail sentence.
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Andrew James Hawke smashed his victim's car window and punched him to the head, then tried to drag the man out of the car so forcefully that he feared his leg was going to break.
"He's clearly someone who suffers from significant health issues," defence lawyer Jason Hanke previously said in his sentencing submission for Hawke before Albury Local Court.
But when the matter was finalised on Monday, magistrate Rodney Brender pointed out to Hawke how Mr Hanke's application to have the matter diverted to the care of mental health care professionals had been rejected because his offending "was too serious".
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Hawke's violence continued after his arrest.
When police tried to take his fingerprints at the Albury station, Hawke refused to co-operate with a "you can get f ... ed".
He then violently resisted attempts to take him back to the cells, to the point that six officers - plus a dose of capsicum spray - were needed to get him locked up again.
"It was genuinely a very unpleasant experience for them," Mr Brender told Hawke, pointing out they were simply "trying to do their job".
He said that to attack someone like Hawke did to the man in the car "in my view warrants a jail term or its equivalent".
Mr Brender decided on the latter, having taken into account Hawke's mental health issues, and put him on a 12-month intensive corrections order.
"That's serving a jail sentence in the community," he said.
Police told the court the victim and his partner "held extreme fears for their personal safety given the accused lives in close proximity to them".
Hawke had been arguing with the man on the afternoon of March 3.
The victim realised that at some stage Hawke had armed himself with "a sharp, small-handled object" and made threats before he went home.
About 8.40pm, the man was in the driver's seat of his partner's car in their driveway when his window was smashed before Hawke punched him then assaulted him "a number of times".
It was then he tried to drag the man out of the car before stopping suddenly and heading home.
Hawke was ordered to pay $300 compensation for the smashed car window.
