Shamah Riley appeared for sentencing in the Nelson District Court. Photo / Tracy Neal
A supermarket manager injured while on duty in a surprise, brutal attack says the event has had a profound effect on him and his co-workers.
He was left shaken, dazed, upset and confused over why he was targeted in the assault that happened earlier this year as he was stocking shelves.
Today, the assailant, Shamah Riley, was sentenced to prison for the attack and other offending, which included violence against a family member and against a prison inmate.
Judge Bill Hastings said at the Nelson District Court hearing that the assault in the supermarket was a completely unprovoked, surprise attack against a person who was just doing their job.
He said the victim’s physical injuries had healed but he still struggled emotionally.
The supermarket manager required hospital assessment and treatment for facial injuries after he was punched in the head, then kicked as he lay on the ground.
He also had to undergo a CT scan to assess injuries to his head and to check for internal injuries.
In court, he was supported by co-workers as his victim impact statement was read on his behalf by a police prosecutor.
He explained how he continued to “look over his shoulder” and, when he was back at work, he avoided the area where the attack happened.
Riley, 26, had earlier pleaded guilty to a list of charges from separate offending dating back to September last year.
In relation to the supermarket assault, he admitted two charges of assault with intent to injure, injuring with intent to injure with reckless disregard, common assault, and escaping police custody and resisting police.
Police said it came after he attacked a person he was staying with, when he had nowhere else to go, a few months earlier.
Then, the day after he was arrested for the supermarket assault and placed in custody, he tried to strangle another prison inmate over a piece of bread.
The court heard that on the evening of January 20 this year, the manager was restocking shelves at Woolworth’s Trafalgar Park in central Nelson when, without warning, he was punched and beaten.
Riley had approached and asked if he was putting the items “out”.
The manager explained he was putting items on shelves.
With his back turned, Riley punched him in the head with a closed fist, which knocked him to the ground.
Riley then kicked him twice in the head, splitting his eyebrow open.
Police said a staff member tried to intervene, and Riley stepped back, but then kicked a box out of the way and continued to kick the manager as he lay on the ground.
As the manager tried to get up, Riley struck him again in the head with a closed fist.
He was left with a deep cut and a swollen face.
The police arrived and arrested Riley at the store’s front entrance. He tried to run away, but was quickly caught.
Judge Hastings described it as a “repeated, persistent act of violence” against a vulnerable victim knocked to the floor.
Woolworths NZ told NZME after Riley’s earlier court appearance that the attack was appalling.
The company’s head of health, safety and wellbeing, Denva Wren, said the increasing level of abuse staff face daily was “completely unacceptable” and hugely upsetting.
She said it was unfortunate that staff too often found themselves in harm’s way when they were “just doing their jobs”.
“We take the safety of our team members very seriously, and they should be able to come to work and feel safe,” Wren said.
The court heard Riley moved to the Tasman region in September last year and was staying with a person known to him when he attacked that person.
The victim confronted him as he tried to remove a mattress, and without warning, Riley punched her in the back, knocking her off her feet.
He continued to “rampage around the house”, throwing items outside and punching a wall and two doors, damaging both.
He was arrested and charged with assault on a person in a family relationship and wilful damage.
Riley then attacked the supermarket manager, and while he was in custody for that, he attacked another inmate as the pair ate dinner.
He later admitted charges of strangulation and assault with intent to injure, after the attack on the fellow prisoner on the evening of January 21 this year.
The pair were in the dayroom area of the cellblock having dinner when the victim asked for more bread.
Riley told him he would fight him for it, then, “out of nowhere”, Riley punched the victim in the head with a closed fist, police said.
As the victim got up to try to defend himself, Riley got him in a headlock, then dropped his weight backwards, forcing the victim’s head onto the concrete floor.
Riley held the lock around the victim’s neck for about 25 seconds, restricting his breathing.
Police said it took two officers to loosen Riley’s grip on the victim, who was left with cuts and concussion symptoms.
From a prison starting point of four-and-a-half years on all charges, Riley was given a 25% discount for his guilty pleas to arrive at an end point of three years, seven months and two weeks in prison.
He was also ordered to pay $810 in reparations for damage to the property related to the charge of assault on a person in a family relationship.
Judge Hastings said Riley’s release conditions would be determined by the Parole Board.
In April 2024, Woolworths rolled out body cameras at its 191 stores as part of staff safety measures, citing a 75% increase in physical assaults and 148% increase in “serious reportable events” in the three years prior.
Wren said the company would continue to work closely with police to combat any sort of abuse towards its team members.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.