French chef Antoine Therle (30) will be sentenced in June after beating up a drug-dealer. Photo / ODT
French chef Antoine Therle (30) will be sentenced in June after beating up a drug-dealer. Photo / ODT
A French tourist tracked down a drug dealer after he was left $400 out of pocket, a court has heard.
Antoine Andrew Dany Therle (30) appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping and assault with intent to injure.
The acknowledgement came nearly sixmonths after a violent incident in North Dunedin that left the teenage victim shirtless, bruised and begging for help.
Therle - a highly regarded chef - first came into contact with 18-year-old Tobias Waring through a Facebook page offering small amounts of cannabis to French travellers in New Zealand.
Waring took $400 from the defendant but failed to deliver the class-C drug he had offered, according to court documents.
As the victim struggled, the man tightened his grip.
When Waring finally extricated himself, he claimed he did not know his attacker.
Therle responded by punching him twice in the face - once with each fist.
Another blow dropped Waring to his knees and the defendant followed it up with a flurry of about 10 further punches.
Therle dragged the man along the pavement, kicked him several times in the stomach and upper body and continued to haul him along Duke St towards his van.
Waring, in a choke hold, bit Therle and managed to break free.
He ran to a nearby dairy, his shirt ripped off and his upper body covered in cuts and grazes.
Therle admitted to police he had "lost control" and said it was his plan to take Waring to an ATM to recoup his $400.
He was remanded on bail ahead of sentencing in June.
In December, Waring was sentenced to three months' community detention and 12 months' intensive supervision on charges of offering to supply cannabis and an unrelated burglary.
