The 33-year-old man’s solicitor, Dominic Holles, successfully applied to the court on Monday for a non-publication order on the man’s name.

The application related to the man’s motive for hitting another man over the head with a chair in the Marketplace food court and then chasing him through the crowd before punching him to the ground.

The accused pleaded guilty to affray, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assaulting police, common assault and destroying property.

Police alleged the man went to the Marketplace about 12.30pm on Saturday, November 12, after being told by another man that the victim was at the shopping centre.

Reading from undisputed facts, magistrate Michael Crompton said the victim was sitting down eating lunch when he was hit over the head with a chair by the accused.

The chair broke in the assault.

The accused man and two co-offenders armed themselves with chairs, while the victim and his son also picked up chairs to defend themselves.

Mr Crompton said there were an estimated 300 to 400 people, including children, in the food court.

After a short stand-off the victim ran off, but was caught outside Lorna Jane and punched to the ground by the two male attackers.

A police officer and a security guard were pushed by the man during his arrest.

The court heard that the accused man was on a good behaviour bond at the time of the incident after being sentenced for assault occasioning actual bodily harm 10 months previously.

“He is not an overtly violent person, but he concedes he has anger management issues,” Mr Holles said.

Mr Crompton described the affray as at the upper end of objective seriousness for that type of offence.

“The behaviour of the offender is violent, horrible, inexplicable,” Mr Crompton said. “The offender had no regard for the safety of others in this busy place.”

For the affray, the man was given a head sentence of 18 months, with 10 months’ non-parole backdated to November 12, when he went into custody. He was given concurrent three-month fixed jail terms for the assaults and fined $1000 for destroying the chair.

Earlier this month, the man’s co-offender was given a head sentence of 10 months, with seven months’ non-parole.