A former Olympic boxer on Friday avoided a prison sentence for assaulting a man at a Perth nightclub in a fight over a AU$450 (US$471) bottle of champagne.
Adam Tony Forsyth, who represented Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was handed a community service order in Perth's District Court after pleading guilty to the unlawful assault of nightclub patron Timothy Henshaw.
Forsyth, 30, was the director of a company that owned Gold Bar nightclub when the assault occurred in February 2010.
The court was told he was drinking a $450 bottle of Dom Perignon at the bar with friends when a group of people, including Henshaw, stole the bottle and began drinking it.
When Forsyth discovered who had stolen it, an argument erupted and Forsyth struck Henshaw once with an open hand, then punched him, knocking him unconscious.
In sentencing, Judge Shauna Deane said Henshaw was fortunate not to have suffered more serious injuries.
"The fact that the blow was more forceful than you realized or intended is accepted but that, as you would be well aware, is always a risk when one engages in such physical activity, and the fact is that you are an elite sportsman and a highly trained and successful boxer," she said.
Forsyth must carry out 60 hours of unpaid community service work.
