Sportsman gets break

A talented Canterbury hockey player - a 17-year-old playing in the men's national league and a possible Beijing Olympics prospect - has been given a break by a judge in the Christchurch District Court.

Judge Lex de Jong wants Isaac Redpath Julian Staples to apologise in person and in writing to a constable he obstructed in a drunken incident in Christchurch.

The judge also suggested he get an alcohol assessment before sentencing on October 24. His counsel said convictions would harm his selection chances for the 2008 Olympic squad.

She asked Judge de Jong for discharges without conviction. The judge said he would consider that, if Staples made his apologies and got his alcohol assessment done before October24.