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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

'Degraded: Customer in wheelchair spits at Napier security guard

Ric Stevens
By Ric Stevens
Open Justice reporter·NZ Herald·
24 Jan, 2022 03:37 AMQuick Read

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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 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.

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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.

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