A Dunedin man now lives with titanium plates in his jaw, the result of an unprovoked assault in an inner city bar.
The 23-year-old man, who declined to be named for fear of repercussions, was having a drink with his girlfriend and others at the that-night aptly named Innocent Bystander pizza bar, late last month.
A man who was with a group of males at the bar began staring at the victim before having a brief conversation, which ended in a "bro'-hug" to defuse things.
"I thought that was it, then a minute later a completely different guy started yelling at me: 'I'm going to get you', with his friends holding him back.
"I sat back down to finish my drink, and then he blindsided me ... I didn't even see it coming." The victim was protected by his friends, including his girlfriend who had been pushed aside in the incident, but the assailant managed to flee the scene with his friends.
"I was sitting there spitting out gobfuls of blood." General manager Scott Becker said staff assisted the victim, who was given an icepack, and flagged police to attend the scene.
The incident occurred while Mr Becker and security were downstairs. Staff had helped police with their inquiries.
The victim sustained a fracture on the right side of his face where the lower jaw meets the skull and another in the middle of his mandible.
Two titanium plates were inserted into his jaw, leaving him unable to talk for the first week, and unable to eat solid food for six weeks - with a month still to go.
"I have a craving for steak - that's the goal," he said.
He will not be able to return to work until late November at the earliest.
The victim said he had never felt unsafe in central Dunedin, but the incident had left him "on edge that this sort of thing can happen out of the blue".
"There are a lot of people who are out for a good time, and there is this tiny little minority who just go out to cause trouble.
"If you see someone acting like that, stay away from them. I tried to chat with the guy and that was a mistake, a big mistake."
Dunedin CIB had reviewed CCTV footage and inquiries to locate the assailant were continuing.
This week, police released crime figures for the 2010-11 fiscal year which showed disorderly behaviour offences in Dunedin/Clutha dropped 21.2% (270 fewer offences).
Area Commander Inspector Greg Sparrow said proactive policing had helped reduce offences but police would continue to take a low tolerance approach to alcohol-related offending.
