Attacked friend after argument

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A man's violent attack on a friend was after provocation that included his cat being killed by the other man, Gisborne District Court was told.

Vincent Glen Wilson, 40, and the man he attacked, were long time friends who both suffered from mental health conditions.

Wilson, though prone at times to irrational thinking due to his illness, was not wrong in his claims of events leading up to the incident, the court was told. The victim previously killed Wilson's cat and smashed his phone.

Wilson attacked him when they got into an argument and a physical fight in Glasgow Crescent, about 5pm on April 8 last year.

The victim, 57, ran off but Wilson chased him with an object described in a summary of facts as a fence baton. He swung it at the man causing him to fall over, then struck him four times in the back with it.

The man suffered moderate injuries — bruising and abrasions — for which he received medical attention at Gisborne Hospital. He claimed Wilson had used a metal object in the attack.

Wilson subsequently pleaded guilty to assault with a blunt instrument. Judge Warren Cathcart sentenced him to four months community detention after converting a nominal end sentence of seven-and-a-half months imprisonment.

Community detention was the appropriate outcome the judge said. Imprisonment would not reflect Wilson's health difficulties or assist with his rehabilitative needs. Home detention would require Wilson to be at home 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and could put his elderly parents with whom he lives, at risk.

An alternative sentence of supervision was ruled out as unsuitable by the probation service.

The judge set a sentence starting point of 12 months imprisonment, uplifting it by one month for previous relevant convictions (none of which related to this victim).

There was discount of three months for Wilson's health issue. While not causative of the offending, it certainly contributed to the background context, the judge said.

There was a full 25 percent discount for early guilty plea.

The court was told Wilson's condition was first diagnosed when he was 20. He remained in the care of his parents and received an invalid's benefit. He had been hospitalised many times for his illness, which was exacerbated by his use of alcohol, cannabis, and methamphetamine.

He was now back on psychiatric medication but had not been on it at the time of this incident.

His friendship with the victim had ended.