An Aucklander who stabbed a man with a knife in a Tauranga nightclub had been recently deported back to New Zealand from Australia.
Rocky Ronaki, 31, was sentenced to six years jail in the Tauranga District Court today after being found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm following a jury trial in October.
The jury found Ronaki intentionally used a knife to stab fellow club patron Logan Abbott inside the smoking area of Bahama Hut during a brief violent scuffle on October 1, 2017.
Abbott was stabbed in the abdomen just below his ribs and he was treated at Tauranga Hospital for a laceration to his liver but made a full recovery, the court heard.
Ronaki claimed he only brandished the knife at Abbott to protect his brother Kiore Ronaki, 29, and sister-in-law who were under threat, and did not intend to hurt anyone.