Drunken bikie president Anthony Toumpas sought counselling after bashing a man in a case of mistaken identity A DRUNKEN bikie president who punched an unconscious man in a case of mistaken identity sought counselling after the crime. The Brisbane District Court yesterday heard Anthony Toumpas was "ashamed" and booked himself sessions with a clinical psychologist after punching a blameless bystander who had tried to intervene in a bashing in Broadbeach in February last year. The fracas began when Toumpas, the president of the Centro chapter of the Bandidos, and a friend left a nightclub to see another man involved in a physical fight with his girlfriend. Toumpas' friend ran to the man and knocked him to the ground, then turned on solicitor David Astill when he intervened. Mr Astill, who fell face first to the ground, then received a blow from Toumpas who mistakenly believed the lawyer was involved in the initial fight. The bikie, 31, a one-time TAFE justice studies student who now drives tow trucks, escaped jail time after pleading guilty to assault, stealing and possession of steroids that police found at his Mt Gravatt home. Prosecutor Sarah Dennis had called for 12 months' jail, describing Toumpas' actions as "gratuitous, vicious and cowardly." But Judge Brian Devereaux handed Toumpas a 12-month sentence with immediate parole, saying his purpose in the incident "seems really only to have been to inflict punishment ... (that) was not appropriate." "No doubt it looked to you that the man was being violent to the women," Judge Devereaux said. There's nothing for it but to face the fact that these are offences of violence, late at night, where there's alcohol involved. They're the kinds of offences that people in the community loathe. They're the kinds of offences that make people think it's not safe to go anywhere. Toumpas' barrister Christopher Wilson said Toumpas had been drinking heavily for months leading up to the incident, out of grief at the death of his grandmother. Toumpas, who was an "episodic" user of cannabis and steroids, had sought out psychological counselling for help in processing his grief, Mr Wilson said. He said Toumpas' previous convictions for assault in 2003 had also taken place after months of heavy drinking following the death of his grandfather. Mr Wilson said Toumpas had been provoked in one of the earlier assaults, telling a policeman after the incident, "I'm sick of being called a wog."