Photos provided in court documents show Calem Taane Jackson, 44, punching a rubbish truck driver in the back of the head.
After a man crashed into a rubbish truck, he knocked the driver out with a coward punch, leaving him to fall face-first onto the road.
Moments after the collision, the victim went to check on Calem Taane Jackson, but when the 44-year-old became aggressive, he turned to walk back to his truck.
It was then that Jackson punched him in the back of the head, sending him onto the road.
Jackson then parked his car outside a neighbouring property, and went into the house.
This week, Jackson appeared in the Hamilton District Court, where he was sentenced on six charges for various offences, including the attack on the driver in May last year.
In court, Jackson said he was remorseful, ready to change his ways, and keen to get help for his drug addiction.
But Judge Nicola Grimes told him he’d had plenty of other opportunities to change but chose to reoffend.
“You know right from wrong,” she told him.
The court heard it was 1.40pm on July 15, last year, when Jackson crashed his Toyota into the back of the truck on Burns Court in Hamilton.
After punching the driver, Jackson moved his car, while the victim lay unconscious on the road for a short period.
The victim was left with cuts and bruising to the left side of his face.
As well as injuring with intent to injure, Jackson was sentenced on charges of theft, burglary, and breaching community work.
The theft involved him taking a gold bracelet into Waigold in Hamilton East on May 1 last year.
After Jackson was paid $600 for the bracelet, the shop attendant got distracted.
Jackson took the opportunity not only to take the cash, but also to leave with the bracelet.
The burglary charges related to him breaking into a Nawton home and stealing a television, clothing and other property on June 9, and taking a bike charger and security lights from a Mears Rd garage on August 29.
Police arrived as he was walking down the driveway, and he told them he was there to meet a friend who owned the items.
He was interrupted by a neighbour during a burglary of another garage, in which he nabbed a car jack and a heavy-duty extension cord.
In court, Jackson’s counsel, Wayne Dollimore, submitted that although a pre-sentence report noted it was unclear whether his client was remorseful, he said he was.
He’d attended a restorative justice conference with one victim and entered guilty pleas to the charges early on.
“He is very embarrassed about the assault and realises he didn’t handle the situation very well.”
He said Jackson has an unfortunate background.
“He has been in and out of jail for many years, and is very candid about this, and told me, ‘I go to jail, get out, then just go back into jail’.
“He’s really saying that he needs help for his addiction to drugs, which is the driver here.”
Jackson was given the opportunity to speak to the judge, and said he was desperate to get the help that he needed.
“I’ve been in and out of jail since I was 17,” he said.
The police prosecutor classified Jackson’s punch to the rubbish truck driver as a “king-hit”.
“It’s well established how dangerous these punches are to victims,” the prosecutor said, adding that there should be an uplift for Jackson’s “brazen burglaries”.
Judge Nicola Grimes was unimpressed by the break-ins.
“Three innocent people that you did not know had their homes broken into by you and their personal belongings taken.
“These homes are the safe space, and their sanctuary, which you violated.
“One victim let you know just what your actions made them feel. It’s not hard to imagine that all the victims felt the same ... ’anxious, extremely stressed, hyper vigilant’.
“We know that the victim was asleep and was worried that you were going to return and do it again.”
As for the rubbish truck driver, the judge said he was entitled to go to work that day and be safe.
“You crashed into him and knocked him out cold.”
While she allowed 20% credit for Jackson’s guilty pleas, that was essentially cancelled out by a 20% uplift for about 130 previous criminal convictions.
Now notching up his 25th sentencing, Judge Grimes suspected that each time Jackson had been told about the impact of his offending on the victims and yet he’d chosen to continue to offend.
“Even though you have been given offers of support, and been given that support, and you know right from wrong.
“There have been many attempts at getting you help for your drug use but it simply has not worked.”
When Jackson realised he was going to get a longer prison term than he’d hoped, he yelled out, “This ain’t gonna work either”.
Judge Grimes continued.
“I have also noted that your previous sentences have been relatively short bursts. This time is different.
“I cannot ignore the effect of your offending on your current victims and the need to hold you to account.”
She jailed him for 32 months.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.