A MAN who was "behaving like an idiot" in a popular family restaurant before violently attacking diners and assaulting police has walked from jail after appealing his sentence.
Christopher Quinlivan was serving a 30-month prison term for seven charges stemming from the alcohol-fuelled outburst at Cardiff Seafood Italian Cuisine earlier this year.
In Newcastle District Court on Tuesday, his sentence was slashed to 24 months and changed to a community-based order.
Judge Justin Smith said Quinlivan's actions were "disgraceful" and took place in "a public restaurant on a Saturday evening when other patrons were there to enjoy themselves in the company of their friends and family".
The 40-year-old and his mother, 68-year-old Margaret Quinlivan, terrified diners when they launched into a series of drunken and unprovoked attacks, kicking and punching people and threatening to kill them, on March 16.
Quinlivan had been drinking alcohol for about six hours when he headed to the restaurant with family at about 6pm.
He was being obnoxious and aggressive, swearing loudly, was repeatedly told by other diners to quiet down, and was hassling wait staff to hold his hand and dance with him.
After more than an hour, retired police officer Tim Wilson, who was dining with his wife Kerryn, approached and asked Quinlivan to stop swearing in front of children.
Quinlivan tackled Mr Wilson to the ground and began to brutally assault him.
His wife approached and was punched, kicked and dragged to the ground by Quinlivan's mother.
Another diner, a 79-year-old man, grabbed Quinlivan in a chokehold in an effort to stop the attack, but he fell, and Quinlivan took the opportunity to grab a chair and smash the elderly customer in the face with it.
Another man who came in off the street to try and break up the brawl suffered a six-centimetre gash on his elbow from glass.
Quinlivan was yelling "I'll kill you" and was threatening "anybody and everybody" during the ordeal.
The rampage came to an end when a teenager threw a bottle at Quinlivan and he fled with an eight-centimetre gash to his head.
But, when police arrived, the violence continued, and Quinlivan threw a blood-soaked t-shirt into the face of a police officer. He kicked another in the shin.
Quinlivan and his mother were arrested.
Newcastle District Court on Tuesday heard Quinlivan had been taking "aggressive steps" to address his alcohol issues.
"Sometimes people do take a while to get to that realisation ... I accept that he now has insight into that as the cause of his offending," Judge Smith said.
Judge Smith said Quinlivan had family support and lived with his mother, though she hadn't "covered herself in glory" during the Cardiff dinner outing either.
He said Quinlivan was otherwise a well-behaved, hard worker who could support himself.
The husband-and-wife victims shook their heads in court on Tuesday, after reading victim impact statements detailing their trauma at the local court sentencing in July.
The two-year intensive correction order Quinlivan was placed on after his appeal involved the additional conditions of engaging in treatment, abstaining from alcohol and performing 150 hours of community service.
He had pleaded guilty to destroying or damaging property, three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of assaulting police, and one affray charge.
His mother was handed an 18-month community-based prison term in Toronto Local Court, with 250 hours of community service.
