Rion Anaru Puna (30) pleaded guilty to charges of injuring with intent to injure and unlawfully taking a vehicle, and was sentenced to 11 months’ home detention before the Alexandra District Court in April.
He appealed that outcome at a hearing in the High Court at Dunedin in August, claiming the result was manifestly excessive and that he should have received community detention and supervision.
In a judgement released this week, Justice Jan-Marie Doogue dismissed the appeal.
"The attack involved strangulation and blows to the victim’s head," she stressed.
"The attack has had lasting detrimental physical and psychological effects on the victim."
Puna was drinking at a bar in Alexandra and his table was being served by the victim.
After an initial incident, involving derogatory comments by the defendant, the pair came into contact again near midnight.
The victim drove the courtesy van and Puna was a passenger.
A dispute broke out when one of the defendant’s associates began smoking inside the vehicle.
The victim stopped and asked the men to get out but they refused, prompting another spray of verbal abuse.
When he got back into the driver’s seat he said he was taking them back to the tavern.
Puna put the victim in a headlock and started choking him to the point where the man could not breathe, dragging him out of the passenger door and on to the ground.
He throttled the driver then punched him four or five times in the head.
One of the defendant’s friends got out and kicked the victim in the ribs as the choking continued.
Once the beating ceased, Puna and the others drove away in the van, leaving the victim stranded.
The court at sentencing heard he suffered a ruptured left ear drum which resulted in permanent hearing loss.
Puna offered $1000 to the victim, a factor his counsel Nicola Graham said was not taken into account in sentencing.
It was the man’s first time in court, he had stable family and employment, and he demonstrated insight into the causes of the offending, she argued.
Puna had been a shearer since the age of 15 and had since travelled nationally and internationally for his work, winning awards for his efforts, the court heard.
If it were not for the home-detention sentence, he would have recently travelled to the United States for work.
Justice Doogue, though, said it was clear Puna would still have employment available once his sentence expired.
"I agree with the judge that a sentence of community work and supervision would not be appropriate."
