Hendrix Hauwai made national headlines as a 17-year-old when he tried to steal a woman’s handbag outside an Auckland shopping complex in 2014.
When mother-of-six Lucy Knight intervened, he punched her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground and causing a severe head injury.
Hauwai was jailed for four years nine months and court documents released to the Otago Daily Times revealed a move south in recent years had done little to change the man’s criminality.
The defendant was locked up at the Otago Corrections Facility in March and was in his cell as meals were passed through the hatches in each door.
Inmates who assisted with the distribution of food and drinks were last to be returned to their cells, a police summary said.
When a Corrections officer opened the door to let a prisoner back in, his cellmate Hauwai rushed out and lunged at the guard.
"He punched the victim five times to the head using closed fists, alternating between his left and right arms," the summary said.
As the officer lay on his back, Hauwai kicked him three times in the leg.
The victim was taken to hospital with extensive bruising to his left eye and thigh.
Court documents showed it was the latest in a string of crimes spanning more than two years, for which Hauwai will be sentenced in the Christchurch District Court next year.
He book-ended 2021 with an arson on the first day of the year and a car break-in 365 days later.
Hauwai was living with a friend in Portsmouth St in Christchurch when he lit a fire in the corner of the lounge.
His next crime involved similarly wanton destruction.
Hauwai broke into a car in Cashel St by smashing a rear window and spreading his blood through the inside in the process.
The vehicle was found further down the road, blocking a driveway.
Last year, his violent streak was again on show, this time in a domestic setting.
In the first incident, Hauwai was at his partner’s Christchurch home, drunk.
When the woman came downstairs, the defendant knocked her out with an unknown implement and pulled her on to a couch.
Shortly after regaining consciousness while being dragged on to a couch, Hauwai put his hand over her mouth to stifle her screams and punched her in the fact at least six times.
Five months later, they were drinking together in the victim’s bedroom when he struck again.
After punching the woman in the eye, she fled the room, shouting for help.
Hauwai chased her into the kitchen and continued the attack, alternating between punching her repeatedly in the upper body and yelling abuse at her.
He will be sentenced on nine charges — some of which carry a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment — in January.
