Troy Anthony Holland had just moments earlier secretly picked up a pair of scissors that the victim had left on a small table near the door to his room.

After punching the man hard enough that his nose began to bleed, Holland began pacing around and calling the victim a "rat".

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Holland, who is in custody, has pleaded guilty in Albury Local Court to a single charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The plea was entered by his lawyer, Mitchell Brooks, as Holland did not front magistrate Miranda Moody when his case was briefly mentioned this week.

It will be several weeks before Holland, 44, who normally lives in Fletcher Street, Wodonga, has his matter finalised, after Ms Moody decided to order the preparation of a sentence assessment report.

Police said Holland, who was unemployed, had a "violent criminal history".

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The court was told that Holland and the 48-year-old victim had met for the first time just two days before the assault.

Holland was staying in room 27 of the Elm Court Motel in Townsend Street, while the other man and his partner were in room 26.

They barely spoke and Holland knew only the man's first name.

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Police said the victim was sitting at a table, on which were roses his partner picked the night before, outside his room on December 7 about 11.40am.

Holland left his room and approached the victim, who had his back to the other man's room.

He offered a cigarette to Holland, who began talking about his brother's death.

The victim asked questions about this then disagreed with a reply from Holland.

Holland grabbed the scissors from the table, concealing these by crossing his arms across his chest.

He moved closer to the other man and punched him, prompting the victim to stand up and ask why he had assaulted him.

Holland will be sentenced on June 18.

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