Man jailed over violent fast-food assault

"I'm going to kill this guy. I am going to do it right here ... so I can be on TV".

Patrick Gardner uttered these words moments before he knocked Gregory Griffin unconscious in a violent one-punch assault in inner Sydney.

Mr Griffin suffered a traumatic head injury when he was punched to the ground in the doorway of Hungry Jack's in Surry Hills just after 10pm on December 19 last year.

Almost a year after the attack, he continues to live with its results, suffering memory loss and a sense of being incomplete.

Mr Griffin was standing in a queue behind the then 28-year-old Gardner and two of his friends at the fast food outlet when the Hungry Jack's worker called out "next".

Mr Griffin responded with "that's if I can fit", upsetting one of the women Gardner was with.

Moments later Gardner was seen taking off his jacket before saying: "I'm going to kill this guy. I'm going to do it right here in store so I can be on TV".

Taken by surprise, the smaller-built Mr Griffin was knocked to the ground with a single punch.

Judge Jane Culver said it was clear from CCTV footage that the punch was forceful, causing Griffin's body to rotate and forcing him immediately to the footpath.

She accepted Gardner's remorse for what he had done, as illustrated by his early guilty plea and a letter to the court in which he seeks forgiveness.

Gardner, who had consumed beer, spirits and wine in the hours leading up to the attack, was also seeking help for alcohol abuse.

She sentenced him to a minimum of three and a half years for recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm and a maximum of five-and-a-half years.

His earliest date of release is June 2017.