Shortland Street actor Brooklyn Nathan sentenced for brutal road rage assault

Brooklyn Nathan, who was a regular on Shortland Street for several seasons, has been sentenced for an Auckland road rage attack.

A young actor who was a regular on Shortland Street has been sentenced to seven months’ home detention after admitting to a brutal road rage assault in which he broke a man’s eye socket before fleeing the scene with his mother in a luxury SUV.

Brooklyn Nathan, 20, punched his victim repeatedly in the face during a roadside dispute after a crash caused by the mother of the young actor and aspiring musician.

Today, at Nathan’s sentencing, Judge David McNaughton granted him the opportunity to address the courtroom personally.

Nathan, wearing a cream shirt, offered his apologies to the victim, who was not in attendance, and said he wished he could have done it face-to-face.

“I can’t take back what I did, and I’m so sorry.”

He also apologised to his family and everyone affected by his actions.

Nathan was supported by his mother, father and partner in court.

The accident on January 19, 2024, occurred after Nathan’s mother, Innes Clark, pulled out into oncoming traffic on Redoubt Rd, in the Auckland suburb of Goodwood Heights, without giving way.

The white Land Rover which Nathan and Clark were in struck the side of a Toyota hatchback and “shunted the complainant’s vehicle across the road and into oncoming traffic”, according to a police summary of facts.

The Toyota driver was able to manoeuvre his vehicle away from oncoming traffic and then approached Nathan and his mother to check if anyone was hurt and obtain their insurance details.

Clark had parked in nearby Santa Monica Dr to assess damage to the large SUV, which belonged to a friend of Nathan.

Brooklyn Nathan appearing in Manukau District Court for sentencing in relation to a road rage attack in South Auckland. Photo / NZH

While his mother and the Toyota driver were talking, Nathan became “increasingly agitated … swearing and blaming the complainant for the accident”.

Despite Clark telling her son to stop, urging that they needed to “hurry up and leave”, Nathan continued to swear at the Toyota driver.

Fearful, the Toyota driver began to call 111, at which point Nathan punched him in the eye. His victim held up his hands to protect his face from a barrage of punches to his head, face and arms which knocked him to the ground.

“Ms Clark shouted at Mr Nathan to stop, screaming that they had to get out of there. Thinking that the assault had stopped, the complainant attempted to get to his feet. As he stood up, Mr Nathan punched him in the face again, knocking him back to the ground and causing his nose to bleed profusely,” the police summary of facts detailed.

A member of the public had witnessed the assault and then intervened, after which Nathan and his mother fled the scene.

The victim of Nathan’s attack was taken to Middlemore Hospital with a fractured eye socket, haemorrhaging of the blood vessels in the left eye and bruising to the face and back of the head.

Brooklyn Nathan was a child actor who appeared in 46 episodes of Shortland Street in the 2020 and 2023 seasons as the homeless teen Boogie Jones. Source / Facebook

He underwent surgery four days after the assault and, almost two years later, continues to suffer from debilitating double vision and has ongoing medical appointments for his injuries.

When spoken to by police, Nathan claimed he had acted in self-defence as the Toyota driver “was coming at him”.

The Crown submitted today that home detention was the most appropriate sentence for Nathan, given the serious nature of the assault and resulting injuries.

To this day, the victim still has double vision.

The Crown also revealed today that Nathan had filmed a nine-second video after the attack, in which the victim can be seen bleeding on the ground. Nathan then takes a selfie.

Prosecutor Christie Lee apologised that the video had not been part of the Crown’s submission.

Judge McNaughton said it was not fair to introduce the clip at this stage.

Lee submitted that a starting point of two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment was appropriate.

Defence lawyer Simon Hewson told the court a sentence of community detention and intensive supervision would be appropriate.

Hewson said this would enable Nathan to continue employment and favour his rehabilitation.

Those around him said that in normal circumstances, Nathan was a “man of compassion and kindness”, Hewson submitted.

His client had offered to attend restorative justice, but the victim declined, and he had completed more than 200 hours of community work.

Hewson also said Nathan had offered to pay a $5000 emotional harm payment to the victim.

A victim impact statement read by the judge said the victim experiences moments of anxiety, especially when younger adults approach him.

He still has double vision in his lower field of vision and has difficulties driving at night.

Judge McNaughton gave Nathan a sentence starting point of two years’ imprisonment.

He then granted a 40% discount for Nathan’s guilty plea, youth and rehabilitative efforts.

This resulted in a sentence of 14 months, which brought Nathan below the two-year threshold for Judge McNaughton to consider home detention.

He sentenced Nathan to seven months’ home detention.

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