A man who allegedly knocked another man unconscious at a Shepparton nightclub will have to wait until July to find out his fate in court.
Joshua Lock, 20, of Kialla pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to two counts of reckless injury and failing to give information to police.
Prosecutor Senior Constable Luke Lund told the court Lock “rushed” a man who was talking to some girls on the upper level at The Deck on July 4 last year, pushing him to the ground and kicking him while he lay unconscious.
The victim’s friend came to help, but was thrown around by an unknown man, breaking his leg in the altercation.
The court heard in a separate incident Lock’s vehicle was driven off on police who had activated their lights and sirens in Shepparton on October 31, 2020.
Police followed the ute; it was driven through streets, across a car park before police stopped.
Early the next morning it was parked outside a Kialla house and when Lock was interviewed by police he denied being the driver and said it was “in the shop” with steering issues.
He would not tell police who was driving at the time, instead telling them “I couldn’t tell ya. I asked my mates. I have a bad memory.”
Lock’s solicitor Shana McDonald told the court her client, a qualified plasterer, was 19 at the time of the assault, and 18 when the driving incident happened.
She said her client had been employed at The Deck and as a consequence of what happened had been immediately fired and banned from attending the venue.
Magistrate Marita Altman told Lock she had not decided what punishment he would receive, instead adjourning the matter until July for her decision.
“One of the biggest parts of the problem you’re facing is how common this is and the terrible consequences that can come from this behaviour,” Ms Altman said.
“One of the jobs I have to do ... is deter other young men.”