KANE'OHE — Australian surfing celebrity Koby Abberton received a three-day sentence yesterday for brawling with an off-duty police officer outside a Honolulu restaurant.

Abberton, a 30-year-old member of the Bra Boys gang, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge, taking responsibility for actions he previously denied when he pleaded not guilty this summer.

"I'd just like to say, your honor, I'll never be here again. I'll put my word on it," Abberton told Circuit Judge Rey Graulty.

Abberton was taken to O'ahu Community Correctional Center to serve his sentence.

Prosecutors had sought a six-month sentence, but Graulty said he believes it's unlikely Abberton will commit crimes again.

"I think he got off easy. I think he should have been given more jail time based on the facts of the case, but I guess the court thought otherwise," Deputy City Prosecutor Katrina Ordonio said.

The charge stemmed from a fight involving some of Abberton's friends outside Restaurant Epic in Chinatown on March 8.

When the off-duty harbor police officer, Richard Puu, 27, tried to break up the fight, Abberton attacked him, Ordonio said. Abberton punched Puu four times in the head, giving him two black eyes and a half-inch cut on his cheek, she said.

Abberton ran away but was arrested later when he returned to the restaurant wearing a different shirt, she said.

Abberton initially claimed police had arrested the wrong guy, but he changed his story in court.

"I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt," Graulty said. "If it turns out that I'm wrong and you're back here again, well, there shouldn't be any surprise about what might await you."

Abberton has had run-ins with the law in the past.

He was given a suspended sentence in Australia two years ago after he was convicted of lying to police about his knowledge of the August 2003 Sydney killing of underworld figure Anthony Hines. His brother, Jai, was acquitted of murder in the killing.