'Degraded: Customer in wheelchair spits at Napier security guard

A supermarket security guard told Napier District Court he felt "degraded" after he was spat on by a wheelchair-bound customer. Photo NZME

A supermarket security guard said he felt "degraded" after he was spat on by a customer in a wheelchair.

Sean Berridge-Burley pleaded guilty to common assault before Judge Kevin Phillips in the Napier District Court yesterday.

The court heard that Berridge-Burley spat at and tipped water over the guard, who had knelt down to discuss a trespass notice, at the Onekawa New World in Napier on March 17, 2020.

"He wasn't being threatening. He was trying to assist and help you," the judge said.

He said the victim described being spat on as degrading and the worst thing Berridge-Burley could have done to him.

However, all the guard had asked for was $20 reimbursement for a blood test, and for Berridge-Burley to get help.

Berridge-Burley was sentenced to a year of intensive supervision, replacing a similar sentence for arson and threatening to kill.