Man jailed after Nelson assault

Nelson police it was just good luck that a November assault didn't become a homicide. File photo / NZ Herald

A jail sentence handed down to a man convicted of an early morning assault on another man outside a bar in Nelson last year, is a timely reminder for the need to clean the town up before this year's Rugby World Cup, police say.

Scott Douglas Rowe, 30, from Christchurch, appeared in Nelson District Court last week and was sentenced to two years and two months in prison for reckless wounding.

Last November Rowe had been drinking in the city when he got into a fight with another man. Rowe found an empty beer bottle, smashed the end off it and attacked the victim around the head before leaving in a taxi, police said.

The victim received cuts up to 60mm deep, one of which was just 3mm from his jugular vein.

Nelson Bays area commander Brian McGurk said it was just good luck that the incident didn't become a homicide.

- NZPA