A judge has decided a sober driver who had his nose broken when punched while waiting in his ute to collect a friend from a party in Hastings almost two years ago had done nothing to provoke the attack.
The decision was made by Judge Bridget Mackintosh yesterday at a disputed facts hearing in the Napier District Court, where a defendant claimed he carried out the assault because he believed his victim had threatened him a short while earlier.
The 22-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to injuring with reckless disregard for the safety of his victim, and, after the judge rejected the argument put by defence counsel Matthew Phelps, was remanded on continued bail for sentencing on March 5.
Interim name suppression continues until further order of the court.
The charge, which carries a penalty of up to five years' jail, related to an incident in Hastings on the night of April 24, 2016, when the defendant drove up to a vehicle in which the "sober driver" victim was sitting with two female friends.