Musician convicted of assaulting son granted appeal

A Christchurch musician has been granted leave to appeal his conviction for assaulting his four-year-old son.

James Louis Mason was found guilty at a Christchurch District Court trial last year of punching his son in the face and pulling his ear in December 2007.

During the trial, Mason denied punching his son but said he did grab his hair and flick his ear. He said he should have been charged with two separate offences not one for the punch and the ear pulling.

The jury was told that only one element was required for a guilty verdict.

Mason appealed and represented himself at the Court of Appeal which confirmed his conviction and sentence of nine months supervision and an order to undertake programmes as directed by the Probation Service.

Mason then took his appeal to the Supreme Court where he was represented by Wellington barrister Greg King.

The Supreme Court today granted him leave to appeal on the grounds that combining the indictment of the two allegations in a single count may have resulted in a miscarriage of justice.

- NZPA