A father and son from Wirlinga who committed assaults in the same pub just minutes apart have each escaped conviction.
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Albury Local Court has heard that one of the assaults resulted from the son taking umbrage at a man who he suspected was a drug dealer.
The incident played-out soon after Jayden Styles, 22, and Kade Michael Styles, 45, arrived at the Kinross Woolshed Hotel on the evening of December 10.
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At one point, magistrate Sally McLaughlin heard, Kade Styles walked up to the same man his son earlier assaulted, pushed aside a plastic chair and grabbed at him.
"The accused," police said, "was set upon by a group of people before falling to the ground."
The men pleaded guilty to assault, after prosecutor Sergeant Andrew Pike withdrew charges against each of them of affray.
On sentencing Jayden Styles, Ms McLaughlin said she was taking into account the fact that "any assault is a serious matter".
"It was with such force that (the victim) fell on to the ground," she said.
Nevertheless, she said, he "appeared to be very forthcoming" with police when they arrived at the pub 15 minutes after the incident took place.
"It does appear to be out-of-character for you," she said.
Ms McLaughlin, who placed each man on a 12-month conditional release order, said being charged would be "a salient reminder to not drink to excess and not act in such a way".
She noted that Kade Styles' involvement in the offending came later.
"I'm not sure what caused you to go over and re-engage things; clearly you should not have," Ms McLaughlin said.
The court was told the pair entered the hotel together.
Police said Jayden Styles began talking to a man in the main bar about 9pm.
After the conversation continued for some time, he suddenly pushed the man to his chest, causing him to fall to the floor.
The victim stood up and pushed back, then they wrestled for about 30 seconds before staff intervened and separated them.
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