Good behaviour bond granted

A Whangarei judge has taken a punt on a man who smashed the letterbox of his partner's ex-boyfriend by convicting him and giving what amounts to a good behaviour bond.

Antonio Stevens, 27, appeared for sentence after pleading guilty to a charge of wilful damage in the Whangarei District Court on Tuesday.

Stevens told Judge Keith De Ridder that he had been having ongoing problems with the son of the man whose letterbox he damaged as the son was the ex-boyfriend of his partner.

"And he doesn't like that," Stevens told the judge.

Stevens said a couple of days before the incident where he damaged the letterbox the son had been to his home and smashed the window of his baby's room.

The son had also hassled some of his friends.

He said he was pretty angry on the day he damaged the letterbox, but he now realised he should have just left it alone and stayed clear of the son.

Judge De Ridder asked Stevens if he had problems with anger as he was convicted of disorderly behaviour last year, but Stevens replied that offending was the result of alcohol and he had stopped drinking booze about six months ago.

"This [latest offending] was just one of those days," Stevens said.

Judge De Ridder said given Stevens' early guilty plea, the fact he had completed an anti-violence course previously and that he had explained the circumstances surrounding the offending clearly, he convicted Stevens and ordered him to come up for sentence if called upon in the next six months.

The sentence is essentially a good behaviour bond and means that if Stevens does not offend again in the next six months that will be the end of the matter. Judge De Ridder also ordered Stevens to pay $129 reparation for the cost of the letterbox.