Broken-bottle bar fight apparently revenge by Colombian man for previous assault

Diaz smashed the beer bottle on a table at the Wellington bar before lunging at his victim. Photo / 123RF

A Colombian man claimed his broken bottle attack in a Wellington bar was retribution for a previous assault that landed him in hospital three years ago.

Carlos Paz Diaz required the assistance of an interpreter this week in the Wellington District Court when he was sentenced on charges of injuring with reckless disregard and assaulting a woman in a bar last year.

Diaz was out in Wellington in July 2021 when he saw a man he had "a long-standing grievance" with across the bar where he was drinking.

Picking an empty beer bottle up by the neck, Diaz smashed it against a table.

Holding the "sharp and jagged" bottle, he lunged at his victim, attempting to strike him in the head three times.

The victim suffered a gash to his left hand after holding his hands in front of his face in an attempt to protect himself.

During the attack a woman stepped in, but was dragged by her hair and punched in the face by Diaz.

The court heard the violent attack was carried out as a form of retribution, with Diaz alleging the victim was someone who had hospitalised him in an assault two years prior.

Diaz was said to have come to New Zealand from a deprived area of Colombia, where there was a greater rate of "self help" instead of relying on police to investigate.

It was noted that police investigations didn't develop after Diaz was allegedly hospitalised in 2019.

Judge Andrew Nichols referred to Diaz's offending as reckless, and said pent-up anger had come to the surface that night when he took matters into his own hands.

Judge Nichols said he accepted Diaz had come from a background where people took matters into their own hands, but he needs to accept that New Zealand is a country that doesn't tolerate violence.

In a pre-sentence report provided to the court, Diaz spoke about his background and accepted he needed to make a change.

Judge Nichols said it would have taken courage to have that conversation with the report writer.

Diaz was sentenced to six months' community detention and six months' supervision.