Former NRL player and boxer John Hopoate has been given a 12-month good behaviour bond and fined $1,000 after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Hopoate was working as the RSA (responsible service of alcohol) officer at the Trademark Hotel in Kings Cross last December when he and other staff members got into a fight with three men trying to gain entry.
The court heard one of the men took off his belt and hit Hopoate in the side of the head, sparking the fight.
Hopoate's lawyer said his client was provoked but had overstepped the mark and used excessive self-defence when he punched the man twice after he was already restrained on the ground.
A charge of affray and another of common assault were dropped.
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