Forde stood over his unconscious victim before pulling his hoodie over his head and walking away. File photo / 123rf
Forde stood over his unconscious victim before pulling his hoodie over his head and walking away. File photo / 123rf
A Queenstown bouncer, smarting over an argument that he started over a misplaced drink, floored his victim with a single roundhouse punch outside a Queenstown dairy.
Zayde Ryan Forde's victim had his hands full — he was eating a pie when he was hit — and could offer no defenceas he was struck.
Forde was sentenced in the Queenstown District Court to six months' community detention, 120 hours' community work and 12 months' supervision. File photo / Ross Setford
His 24-year-old victim suffered concussion after the attack, and has found work difficult: he experiences fatigue, anxiety and mood swings, all from an incident he does not remember, and an argument he did not start.
Forde, 22, was sentenced in the Queenstown District Court yesterday on a charge of injuring with reckless disregard in the resort on June 30 last year.
The victim was with friends at Cowboys Bar when Forde, whom he did not know, confronted him about a misplaced drink.
That flare-up subsided until about 90 minutes later, at 4am, when Forde happened upon the victim and his friends outside a downtown Night 'n Day store, where the victim was eating a pie.
Forde aggressively pushed him, isolating him from his friends. The victim had his hands full with the pie and its wrapper when Forde delivered a roundhouse punch that dropped him.
The assault, captured by nearby CCTV cameras, was a "disgraceful" attack that had a tremendous impact on the victim, Judge John Brandts-Giesen said.
Forde's defence lawyer, Liam Collins, said Forde — who attended the hearing by video link from Christchurch — entered an early guilty plea and was committed to taking steps to "man up".
He had moved to Christchurch, and was providing for a partner and her child.
He acknowledged his problems with alcohol. He was no longer working as a bouncer.
Judge Brandts-Giesen said that was was probably just as well: Forde ought to have been trained to diffuse difficult situations, rather than escalate them.
He noted the victim believed Forde lacked remorse during their restorative justice meeting, and simply could not understand why he had become as hostile as he had.
The victim suffered significant pain and financial loss, and it was important Forde and other such assailants understood the impact of their actions.
Ford was sentenced to six months' community detention, 120 hours' community work and 12 months' supervision.
