I couldn't believe it when I saw the image of Jonathon Wilson, standing in the dock with his co-accused, arms crossed and bare-chested.
Wilson and his mates are up on serious charges - the brutal assaults at Milford Beach and Takapuna that put four people into hospital with
serious head injuries.
You would think that Wilson, no matter how limited his intelligence, would have enough nouse to realise that he needs to make the best possible impression on the court. But no. There he stood in his prison issue boiler suit, the top of which he'd drawn down to expose his bare chest. Which, quite frankly, wasn't all that flash.
Maybe I've been spoiled in this era of professional sport but contrast Wilson's physique with that of 18-year-old athletes and it wasn't much chop. Still, people he meets in the near future might not be so fussy. Apparently, this trend for turning up in court bare-chested is not new.
Correspondents to my radio show tell me it's all the go in the Whakatane District Court to turn up with your man breasts and bare belly exposed.
What gets me is why the judges allow it. It's their court room. Surely they can send any disrespectful oik back home or remand them in custody until someone cares enough to bring them a shirt.
Wilson's second appearance in court was a different story. He encountered another judge who barked at him to stand up straight and proper when Wilson slouched against the dock. More of that sort of attitude from the judiciary would be good.
