In defense of Till Lindemann (sort of)

So. Till Lindemann (from Rammstein) recently assaulted a man in a bar.
First of all, I want to say that I don't condone the violence AT ALL. But I think there are parts of the story that we need to know before writing him off as a monster.
The story I read was that a man approached him and made a comment implying that the woman he was with was a prostitute. Till was obviously pretty pissed off and asked the man to apologize, which the other man refused to do. Apparently the man clenched his fists and asked Till to leave, and then Till elbowed him in the face, resulting in a bloody nose (some sources also say he had a broken jaw).
Of course, violence isn't justified in that situation. He's the one who threw the first punch (er, elbow). It wasn't defensive violence. But to be honest, if I were in his situation, I probably would've done something horrible too. I don't know if I'm strong enough to break someone's jaw (Till's a big guy), but if you talk crap about my friends, I will, at the very least, tell you to fuck off.
So what should be done? Honestly, I'm not sure. There needs to be justice, but being in jail is really awful (trust me on this), and I certainly wouldn't want that to happen to him. I propose maybe some sort of restorative justice, or that he has to pay money, or something like that. I don't know how the justice system works in Germany...