Albury man and victim exchanged punches, ended up with split to top of his head

Bairstow was told the sight of him brawling with the other man, who was more than half his age, would have frightened the many people milling about in Kiewa Street.

Albury Local Court has heard Bairstow took offence to a comment about the clothes he was wearing, just as he was leaving Beer Deluxe on July 3 at 2.35am.

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Magistrate Susan McGowan, noting how busy it would have been outside the pub at the time, said the fight "would have been, I'm sure, distressing for those close by".

"Again, an example of alcohol-fuelled violence, which I'll say now, people in the community are sick of," she said.

"Affray is a very serious offence."

Bairstow, 44, of Cadell Street, Albury admitted to the affray charge, through defence lawyer Chirag Patel.

"It was the other group of men who started provoking him," Mr Patel said.

"In hindsight, what he should have done is kept on walking."

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But instead, Mr Patel said, Bairstow was guilty of "taking the bait" and got "the worst end of the fight".

"He was hospitalised. It was Mr Bairstow himself who called the police," he said.

The court was told how Bairstow was walking along Kiewa Street when he came across a group of three young men.

Bairstow pushed past them before stepping out on to the road at the Dean Street intersection.

This was when one of the three called out to him.

Bairstow turned around, approached the trio and grabbed one of them by the scruff of his shirt with both hands.

He pushed him back up against a wall while "screaming at the man".

Police said Bairstow swung a left fist at the man, at which point another young man moved up behind him and threw several punches - though none made contact.

Within moments, he and one of the trio, a 21-year-old, got into a scuffle then a fight, repeatedly throwing punches at each other.

During the fight they fell to the ground several times.

The fight was promptly broken-up by the pub licensee.

Police arrived at 2.45am and saw that Bairstow was "agitated" and was "covered in blood, which was coming from a split on the top of his head and his nose".

He stank of alcohol.

Bairstow was convicted and fined $850.

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