An Aucklander who seriously injured a Queenstown policeman with a single punch early last year has avoided prison.
Otto Johansson, 31, was "agitated, aggressive and intoxicated" when he went berserk at the Camp St taxi stand in the resort town’s CBD early on January 31, a court has heard.
After smashing a taxi window and punching one of its body panels, he rounded on its driver, who ran to the nearby police station for refuge.
Johansson was sentenced in the Manukau District Court in June this year on three charges arising from the incident: aggravated wounding with intent, intentional damage and threatening language.
He was also sentenced on a charge of assault with intent to injure arising from offending in Auckland, for which he was on bail at the time of the Queenstown assault.
The Otago Daily Times has received Judge David McNaughton’s sentencing notes on Johansson’s case, four months after requesting them.
The Crown’s summary of facts said Johansson had been ejected from a downtown bar in the resort town shortly before the incident.
After the assault, he was restrained and arrested by another officer while an off-duty nurse gave the injured officer first aid.
The policeman suffered a broken jaw, for which he needed surgery at Dunedin Hospital, a broken collarbone and severe concussion.
Appearing at the sentencing by audiovisual link, the policeman said he spent four days in hospital.
The multiple fractures in his jaw meant he could not eat solids for six weeks, causing him to lose a lot of weight.
A cut above his eye required five stitches, leaving him with a scar, and he had experienced tiredness and difficulty concentrating as a result of a concussion.
Judge McNaughton said those symptoms had eventually settled, but the officer had found the impact on his wife and daughter to be the hardest part.
"At times he has felt like a burden on them, and he describes his daughter’s anguish at seeing him in hospital initially with these serious injuries."
Counsel Kingi Snelgar said the defendant — a self-employed builder and married father of three — had no previous convictions, was a pro-social member of the community and active in his church.
Judge McNaughton said he accepted severe stress factors had caused a person of good character "to act in a way which you otherwise never would".
On all charges, he gave Johansson sentencing discounts for those personal factors, his previous clean record, guilty pleas and for showing his remorse by being willing to participate in restorative justice, pay reparation and undergo counselling.
That reduced the term of imprisonment to 22 months, which he converted to a final sentence of 10 months’ home detention.
Johansson must undertake assessment and treatment for alcohol issues, and complete an anger management programme.
He must also pay reparation of $630 to the police officer, $700 to the taxi driver and $400 to his Auckland victim.
