Labourer and part-time security guard Blake Frazer - who ripped the wheel off a disability advocate's wheelchair, sending her crashing to the ground - will serve a nine-month jail sentence in the community.
A heavily intoxicated Frazer, 24, committed the "heinous and unprovoked assault against an extremely vulnerable wheelchair-bound victim" outside the King Street Hotel last year.
He pleaded guilty in January to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but the matter has been delayed while he underwent a court-based diversion program.
Court documents show Frazer entered the King Street Hotel about 11.30pm on October 31.
He left about 2.15am and was walking along King Street with a group of friends when he approached the victim, who was sitting in her wheelchair and waiting for her friend.
The pair did not know each other and the victim was "minding her own business", police said.
"Frazer walked up to the right-hand side of the victim's wheelchair and forcefully pulled the right wheel off the wheelchair for no reason, capsizing the wheelchair onto the ground," police said in court documents.
The victim fell out of her wheelchair and onto the footpath, causing a cut to her elbow and grazes to her forearm.
Frazer ran away along King Street and other bystanders provided the victim with first aid and helped her get back into her wheelchair.
Hotel security identified Frazer from "prior dealings" and venue ID scanners.
He was easily identifiable because of the distinctive tattoos on his face, forearms and lower legs, police said.
Newcastle Local Court heard on Thursday that Frazer was in the grip of a severe drug and alcohol dependency, which included a $2000 a week cocaine habit.
Judge Trevor Khan, who described Frazer's behavior as an "appalling act of stupidity", said there was no alternative to a custodial sentence.
"There must be a clear message that people are entitled to be safe. People who are vulnerable are especially entitled to be safe."
Frazer was spared going to prison because Judge Khan said he was satisfied that he had taken serious steps towards rehabilitation.
Combined with a report that found Frazer's risk of reoffending was low, Judge Khan said serving the sentence in prison would do him more harm than good.
Frazer, who will pay $154 compensation, will also perform 100 hours of community service and abide by a night-time curfew.
The victim previously wrote on social media that "a wheelchair is an extension of somebody's body."
"Not only is it property damage, it is also assault if you purposefully do something to it - like ripping a wheel off while the user is still in the chair," she wrote.
In an unrelated matter, Frazer was fined $1200 and disqualified from driving for six months for driving while disqualified.
He was also convicted and fined $1000 for mid-range drink-driving.
