'Aggressive drunk' league captain avoids jail

The West Coast Rugby League captain appeared in the Greymouth District Court after head-butting a victim. Photo / File

West Coast Rugby League captain Adrian Rodney Loe was labelled an "aggressive and unpleasant drunk" by a judge for head-butting a man at the pub.

The Greymouth District Court on Tuesday that Loe, of Atarau, went to the Ikamatua Hotel with friends on March 14. About 1am he was outside the hotel and got into a scuffle on the way back inside, head-butting the victim, breaking two of his teeth in the process.

The victim also suffered jaw pain and swelling from the attack.

Loe told police he had just had a "brain explosion".

Lawyer Marcus Zintl said Loe was the captain of the West Coast Rugby League team, and was recently picked in the South Island team to play against an Australian team, in Christchurch.

Mr Zintl suggested that an appropriate sentence would be supervision, encompassing counselling for anger management and alcohol.

However, he said there was an "element of provocation to the offending from the complainant who got involved in a matter he should have kept out of".

Judge Raoul Neave said Loe was clearly an "aggressive and unpleasant drunk".

The offence was "quite a fall from grace for someone of his standing in the rugby league community".

"Alcohol was at the root of the events in question, you were intoxicated at the time, it's not clear to what extent (the victim) was affected by alcohol ... but even if there had been some unnecessary and officious interference ... there seems to have been a significant rush of testosterone to your head. "When you are drunk you are aggressive and unpleasant, I rather hope you keep your temper under better control on the pitch," Judge Neave said.

In imposing an emotional harm repayment of $2500, together with 12 months' supervision, the judge said Loe had come "perilously close" to a prison sentence.

- Greymouth Star