The jury has retired to reach its verdict in the case of a Christchurch man accused of flicking his son's ear.
50-year-old Jimmy Mason is accused of assaulting his sons in December 2007, when they were aged two and four.
It is alleged he flicked his older son's ear and
punched him while slamming both their bikes onto the ground with the children still on them.
The Crown urged the jury not to make the case a test of the anti-smacking laws. They were told they should not use the case to send any sort of message to the Government about their views on physical punishment.
Mason's lawyer Liz Bulger wrapped up by saying her client was trying to discipline his boys after an earlier bike crash in a busy part of town. She appealed to the jury members who are parents to remember what it is like to control toddlers.
- NEWSTALK ZB
