A Lawrence man who started a bar brawl with a racist outburst says he cannot remember making the offensive remarks.
Daniel Blair Mathieson (37) appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday where he was sentenced to three months’ community detention and nine months’ supervision after pleading guilty to assault and disorderly behaviour.
On January 24, the defendant and his friend were drinking at a pub in Lawrence.
Both were intoxicated, the court heard.
Also at the bar with friends was the victim, a man of Middle Eastern descent.
After a spell of taunting and laughing, the friend asked the victim’s group whether any of them wanted to fight his "Oompa Loompa" — a reference to the diminutive Mathieson.
When they refused, the racial abuse began.
Feeling under threat, the group left the premises, prompting another man to intervene.
He confronted the aggressors about their racist comments.
Mathieson responded by punching him in the head.
When the Middle Eastern man re-entered the fray, Mathieson's friend punched him, too.
Neither victim received serious injury or sought medical treatment, the court heard.
Police interviewed Mathieson, who said he was so drunk he remembered hitting someone but nothing else.
He could give no explanation for his behaviour.
In court yesterday, defence counsel Pete Tuala sought to shed more light on the background to events.
Mathieson, he said, had been drinking pre-mixed drinks before heading to the pub, which were stronger than the beer he usually drank.
While the defendant maintained he could not remember the racist comments, he did recall apologising to the man he struck and sharing a beer with him once tempers cooled.
Mr Tuala said his client also went to the workplace of the Middle Eastern man to apologise in the ensuing days.
Judge Michael Turner noted the man provided a statement to the court saying he accepted the apology and wanted to move on.
The charges were withdrawn for the friend of Mathieson's.
