A man who severely beat a lawyer as she left court, choking her and repeatedly slamming her head into the ground, has been sentenced to three years behind bars.

Steve Bryant Symonds, 59, pleaded guilty this month to assaulting lawyer Georgia Marshall and depriving her of her liberty in an incident on August 28, 2014.

Delivering the sentence yesterday, Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves said the attack was an “arrogant assault” on an officer of the courts for carrying out her duties, adding that the fact she did not suffer more serious injuries was down to the victim’s good fortune rather than the defendant’s lack of effort and intent.

The Supreme Court heard that at the time of the incident, Symonds was involved in a legal dispute with his ex-wife, who was being represented by Mrs Marshall. The court had previously ordered Symonds to pay his former spouse a sum of money but he had failed to do.

On the morning of the assault, the court had ruled that if the money was not paid, a property owned by Symonds would be sold to pay the debt, with the remainder of the proceeds going to Symonds.

Symonds reportedly told the court: “I never intended to pay her any money because she didn’t deserve it.”

After the hearing had ended, the court heard that Symonds had held open the door for Mrs Marshall as she went to leave the chambers.

She walked through the door ahead of Symonds, thanking him, but after taking a few steps into the foyer, the defendant grabbed her by the neck and began to punch her in the face and chest.

He then pulled or knocked her to the ground and straddled her, continuing to punch her. As the attack continued, he pulled Mrs Marshall off the ground by her arm and began to slam the back of her head into the carpet-covered pavement.

In a victim impact statement, Mrs Marshall said she lost consciousness during the attack, with her last thought being that Symonds was going to kill her.

Court staff came across the scene and pulled Symonds off the unresponsive victim. As they did so he continued to lash out, attempting to kick Mrs Marshall.

One of the staff reported hearing Symonds say: “I’m going to kill you b***h. No one is taking my second home. I already lost my first one.”

Mrs Marshall suffered a broken nose and extensive bruising on her face, neck and chest in the attack. As a result of the injuries, she was unable to open one eye for several days and still suffers from headaches and pain in her left arm.

Prosecutor Carrington Mahoney described the attack as callous, vicious and contemptuous, noting that the victim was an officer of the court who was trying to carry out the administration of justice.

He said that Symonds had previously been convicted of wilful damage and causing actual bodily harm in connection to past incidents, and that Mrs Marshall had suffered serious injuries in the attack.

Given all the circumstances, Mr Mahoney called for a sentence of more than four years behind bars.

Defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher said a sentence in the range of a year to 18 months would be more appropriate, saying that Symonds admitted the offence at the earliest opportunity and had repeatedly expressed his remorse.

She said the incident was the result of a “perfect storm” of circumstances, and that Symonds had offered to pay his ex-wife $58,000 but the court had ruled he must pay $60,000 along with her legal fees.

“For $2,000, he’s paying tens and tens and tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and then selling the property that he was putting together for his family,” she said. “It’s not going to happen again. We will never get this combination of factors together again.”

While she accepted that a prison sentence was likely, she suggested that a partially suspended sentence might be appropriate, noting that he had remained in custody since the assault.

Symonds declined to speak to the court on his sentencing.

Mr Justice Greaves said that there were no mitigating factors except for Symonds’s guilty plea, saying that he had “pummelled the daylights” out of an officer of the courts.

Noting pictures of Mrs Marshall’s injuries, he said it appeared as though she had stepped into the ring with former boxer Mike Tyson.

“By his own words, he intended and desired to seriously injure the complainant, even to kill her,” he said.

Mr Justice Greaves sentenced Symonds to three years in prison for the assault and two years for depriving Mrs Marshall of her liberty, ordering that both sentences run concurrently, with time already served taken into account.