Community detention for restaurant owner's 'excessive force'

Maoyi Sun, 62, who formerly owned San Bao Restaurant on Dominion Rd, came before Auckland District Court this afternoon after pleading guilty to a charge of injuring with intent to injure.

Turfing a drunken patron out of a Chinese restaurant will see an Auckland man on a curfew for Christmas and New Year.

Maoyi Sun, 62, who formerly owned San Bao Restaurant on Dominion Rd, came before Auckland District Court this afternoon after pleading guilty to a charge of injuring with intent to injure.

Though sympathetic to his plight, Judge Mary Beth Sharp said he used "excessive force" when ejecting the disruptive diner.

He was sentenced to four months community detention and ordered to complete 100 hours of community work, as was his 37-year-old son, Feng Sun, a chef at the restaurant who jumped to his father's defence during the restaurant fracas.

His twin brother, Peng Sun, a waiter, was convicted on a count of common assault and given 75 hours of community work.

On July 29, Maoyi Sun approached a loud customer and asked him to keep the noise down but he reacted angrily.

"The complainant grabbed him by the throat," the judge said.

Feng and Peng Sun, concerned about their father who had health problems, jumped in and dragged the man out of the restaurant.

"It's understandable they leapt to their father's defence," Judge Sharp said.

As the fracas spilled outside, the group fell to the floor where the victim smacked his chin on a pot plant.

The 4cm wound required stitches but the judge was unsympathetic.

"During the whole fight it appears that the level of intoxication of the complainant meant he was less the actual victim than the aggressor. Put it this way: he was giving as good as he got," she said.

"It was unfortunate he was injured but I don't accept it was those three defendants who were responsible for the injury."

A passing police officer was able to break up the fight but further units had to be called in to restrain the rowdy patron.

The court heard the Sun family recently sold the business.