An Oamaru man who slashed his neighbour’s stomach with a broken fence paling during a drunken argument has been jailed for a year.
The Dunedin District Court on Friday heard Andrew Greg McHoull (45) had been in custody on remand for so long he would be released almost immediately.
On April 29, he and his neighbour had been drinking together before they fell out and returned to their own properties in Clyde St.
After yelling abuse at the man from his deck, McHoull went over to confront him, picking up a piece of wood on the way.The 30cm improvised weapon had a metal latch on one end of it, the court heard.
When McHoull swung it at the victim, it cut him across his stomach.
The pair then tussled on the lawn before they were separated by others.
Counsel John Westgate said his client had been assaulted by the victim before the flashpoint but had not made a police complaint.
He said there was more context than had been provided in court documents.
Police had been called to the scene earlier in the night but thought things had calmed down.
They had not.
McHoull’s girlfriend went to the victim’s house and came back with a cut, Mr Westgate said.
The defendant, he told the court, "literally saw red".
Mr Westgate stressed the weapon used to inflict the injury had earlier been ripped off the fence by the victim.
The injury sustained was "low end", he said.
Judge Macdonald accepted that was the case but in a statement before the court, the victim said it had been a painful wound and left a scar.
The court heard the incident took place shortly after McHoull had been released from his previous prison stint of 14 months.
At the time of the brawl, he had been subject to release conditions to help him avoid future offending, the judge said.
McHoull’s criminal history stretched to seven pages "with a liberal sprinkling of assault convictions since 1985".
A Probation report deemed the defendant in denial about his alcohol problems but he accepted he needed help with anger management.
