A man who stole a charity box from an Invercargill fish store says he had "building anger issues" at the time.
Mita Reo Webster, 41, was sentenced in the Kaikohe District Court last month on charges of assaulting a female, intentional damage, possessing a weapon and disorderly behaviour.
On May 19, the defendant was at King’s Fish Market in Invercargill where he ordered some food.
Webster became aggressive towards the employees, then took the Paw Justice charity box from the counter and ran out of the shop.
The defendant pushed over a worker when she asked for the box back and reached out to take it.
The victim fell on to the road and another staff member chased Webster down.
He ran off but the charity box was recovered.
The victim said she had young staff working at the time who were concerned Webster might come back.
The previous month, the defendant had damaged a car mirror and thrown some rubbish bins into traffic.
When the victim wanted to speak to Webster about the damage, he pulled a steak knife from his backpack and pointed it at them.
Court documents said he had been drinking at the time and regretted all of his actions towards the victims.
He said he was depressed and began "building anger issues".
Since moving back to Northland, he had better family and psychological support, he said.
"I am very pleased to see that you are well as you stand before me this afternoon," Judge Taryn Bayley said.
She sentenced him to nine months’ supervision.
