A 27-year-old man was yesterday remanded in custody for sentence after admitting a charge relating to an attack with a bottle which almost ended the singing career of popular Napier entertainer John Fletcher.
Shaun Anthony Wairau pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding Mr Fletcher with intent to injure in the
attack at the Westshore Hotel on the night of December 23, 2004. The charge was put to him in the Napier District Court yesterday.
Crown prosecutor Clayton Walker offered no evidence on a more serious count of wounding the singer with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in the incident in which Mr Fletcher was stabbed in the back of the head with a bottle. Represented by Steve Manning, Wairau was remanded by Judge Geoff Rea for sentence on May 5.
According to a summary read by Mr Walker, Mr Fletcher had been at the hotel with his son, and greeted a woman in the bar with an embrace, to which exception was taken by another man, an associate of Wairau.
That discontent led to a short fight outside, which didn't involve the defendant. After it was over and back in the bar, Wairau struck Mr Fletcher with the bottle.
Mr Fletcher never saw the attack coming, and the result was a severe gash behind one ear, requiring emergency surgery.
