Boxing coach sentenced for assault on bar staff

A boxing coach has been convicted of assault after he punched two staff members who denied him entry to a bar due to intoxication.

Randall Michael Dixon, 45 of Dixon’s Boxing Gym in Richmond, pleaded guilty to two charges of assault after the incident at cocktail bar Bamboo Tiger on Bridge St last September. He was sentenced in the Nelson District Court on Wednesday.

Judge Jo Rielly declined to discharge Dixon without conviction, citing a lack of evidence that a conviction would harm his business.

‘‘After you had been spoken to by the doorman you essentially saw red and flipped out. That is very concerning for someone like you who is so skilled at using your fists,’’ the judge said. The victims, the bar manager and another staff member, were both punched in the face by Dixon after he was told he was too intoxicated to enter.

In a victim impact statement, one of the men said the last thing he expected was to be punched and it had made him nervous about being around intoxicated people. The incident had made his job more difficult and he had taken time off work.

The other victim suffered a concussion which had also affected his work and personal life, making him hyper alert and on edge in certain situations. He had taken time off both his jobs and struggled in his role as the coach of two sports teams. Defence lawyer Michael Vesty said Dixon had no prior violence convictions, and it was not the case that he was prone to the use of force given his involvement in boxing. It was an ‘‘utterly regrettable incident’’ influenced by the consumption of alcohol, without which Vesty said the assaults were unlikely to have happened.

Dixon had admitted his actions did not show discipline, self-respect or respect for others, which were virtues associated with boxing.

Vesty said Dixon had been involved with the sport for 30 years. He had a successful boxing career and had given back to the community by opening a boxing gym and training youth in Richmond. Vesty said a conviction would not only negatively affect Dixon, but also the gym and the community it served. Judge Rielly said both men had suffered significantly since the assaults. She accepted that Dixon was remorseful and his intentions coaching and mentoring others were positive.

Judge Rielly said she had no independent evidence that a conviction would have detrimental consequences on the gym.

Dixon was convicted on both charges and ordered to pay $200 to each man in reparation.