Police Sergeant Barry Woon said the threats and harassment against Spiers had nothing to do with his charges. "The defendant is an intelligent man with his own business. That is not disputed, but he ought to know or have the intelligence to deal with a situation like this, he shouldn't have used his fists."
Mr Woon suggested Spiers had an "anti-authority" problem, and possibly viewed Fair Go as an authority figure.
"This is a totally unprovoked attack. They should be able to go about lawful business without being attacked."
Harcourt and his cameraman approached Mount Auto Court on Totara St in late July to follow up on the previous story. Spiers has been the subject of several complaints to consumer programme Fair Go.
As Harcourt and the cameraman got out of their car, Spiers and three others confronted them and Harcourt was assaulted. Some of the footage of the scene recorded the cameraman saying "you just punched us in the head three times", to which Spiers replied "I don't give a f**k, I'll just say you punched me, too".
The cameraman was not hurt but the camera was damaged - after Spiers realised it was recording.
Harcourt suffered a black eye, bleeding nose and suspected concussion. His glasses were also broken.
Standing in the dock yesterday, Spiers kept his eyes on Judge Rollo, who described Fair Go as a consumer watchdog television programme. While it might be understandable if a person at the centre of an investigation became frustrated, it did not excuse Spiers' "excessive and unwarranted" behaviour, the judge said.
"It was unnecessary for you to punch him three times in the head.
"A course of action was that you could have turned on your heel and have your staff tell them they were not welcome."
Spiers was convicted and ordered to pay $1573, plus a further $616 for camera damage within the next two weeks.
Outside court Harcourt rejected Mr Nabney's account to the judge that the incident took place on the car yard.
"That is rubbish. The footage shows it. We were not on the property. We were not asked to leave. They came out and approached us."
Harcourt said he had the right to investigate people's complaints.
The journalist of 22 years told the Bay of Plenty Times he had never before been assaulted on the job, which involved high-risk situations. Mr Harcourt said Fair Go did "risk associations" on situations whenever they planned to approach someone but security staff were not considered necessary on this occasion.
TVNZ news and current affairs boss Anthony Flannery said Fair Go crews were occasionally jostled and threatened while filming, "but rarely has anyone been physically assaulted in the programme's 34-year history".
Fair Go stalwart Kevin Milne said the show rarely used back-up security for its reporters although staff were well aware of the potential for serious conflict.
A spokesman yesterday said Spiers declined to comment.
Gordon Harcourt talks to media outside Tauranga District Court.