The court ordered he be released from prison on Wednesday afternoon, having spent about nine months in custody on pre-sentence detention.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to charges including theft, committing an indictable offence while on bail, possession of a prohibited weapon and intentionally causing injury for offences at Ironbark and Eaglehawk in 2021.

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The 48-year-old cannot be named for legal reasons. The court was told that during May last year the man had wrestled with a police officer and a pepper spray had fallen out of his pocket. When he was interviewed at the Bendigo police station he said he had found the cannister on the ground and was going to dispose of it safely before any children found it.

The court heard the man had also visited a property at Ironbark and demanded the occupant give him a distinctive set of keys. The resident refused and asked him to leave but he instead grabbed a bottle of Galliano from a table and struck the victim with it. The victim sustained a head injury which required stitches.

Magistrate Russell Kelly told the man he would need to improve his behaviour in order to stay out of prison.

"Smashing a bottle over your mate's head is the last thing you need to do," he said.

"I take into account the reports on your behalf (submitted to the court). You have sat in jail for nearly a year."

Magistrate Kelly said the man would be sentenced to time served and would be released on a community corrections order to undergo mental health monitoring and drug and alcohol programs for 15 months.

"You will have some support upon release - you have to try to make the best of it," he said.

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Defence lawyer Shae Holmes said her client had "some insight" to his offending and knew that alcohol was the underlying cause of his problems.

The man encouraged the court to have confidence in his prospects for rehabilitation.

"I'm going to try really hard this time," he said.

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