A Lake Macquarie man who punched a woman in the face in a bedroom has narrowly avoided jail, with a magistrate saying the 46-year-old could have killed her.
Toronto Local Court heard on Tuesday that Justin William Elphick twice shoved the woman off her feet at his Glendale home in the early hours of June 3, before he stood over her and punched her in the nose as she lay prone on a bed.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Elphick and the woman had an argument at a barbecue earlier in the evening, which reignited about 1am - culminating in the Glendale man violently assaulting her.
The punch left the woman with a bleeding nose and bruising under her eyes.
Elphick fled the scene before police arrived but was soon arrested and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm - domestic violence related.
He told investigators he had "no recollection" of the attack and was intoxicated by alcohol on the night in question.
In court on Tuesday, Magistrate Peter Barnett, SC, rebuked Elphick, describing the attack as "serious" and a "lottery" as to whether he could have caused more serious injuries to the woman.
"It wouldn't be the first time someone died from a single punch," he said.
Magistrate Barnett said a jail term was a "real possibility" for Elphick, but instead ordered him to serve a 28-month community corrections order - essentially viewed as a legal alternative to a custodial sentence.
A breach of the conditions, which include 200 hours of community service and a requirement for Elphick to abstain from alcohol, would mean he would be brought back before the court and re-sentenced for the attack.
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