Thorne Tucker is sentenced in the Rotorua District Court on Friday. Photo / Maryana Garcia
Thorne Tucker is sentenced in the Rotorua District Court on Friday. Photo / Maryana Garcia
A Rotorua man has been sentenced to two years in jail for his “ferocious and unprecedented” attack on a 61-year-old bus driver.
Twenty-year-old Thorne Tucker was sentenced in the Rotorua District Court today on a charge of causing grievous bodily harm to a Rotorua bus driver in December last year.
Tucker beat his victim until he was unconscious, stomping and kicking him in the head while wearing work boots, and dragged him in a headlock.
Tucker pleaded guilty to the charge in April.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment. At the time of the offending, Tucker was 19.
Tucker could be heard cheering as he was led away to serve his two-year sentence.
Defence lawyer Scott Mills said Tucker had been a witness to “severe and prolonged violence”, experiences which “normalised” violence for the young man.
“This man’s life has numbed violence for him to a point where his perception of it is totally warped,” Mills said. “But that is something he is dealing with.”
Thorne Tucker, appearing in the Rotorua District Court via audio visual link in April, pleaded guilty to one charge of causing grievous bodily harm. Photo / Andrew Warner
Mills said Tucker was under the influence of “significant alcohol” consumption at the time of the offending.
“Clearly, he needs some assistance with his substance use,” Mills said.
Tucker’s victim was not in court for the sentencing. However, police prosecutor Senior Sergeamade statements to presiding Judge Edwin Peraniko Paul on the bus driver’s behalf.
“[The victim] advises that his ribs thankfully weren’t broken,” Rei said. “He spent two-and-a-half months on ACC at 80 per cent of his normal income.”
Rei said that for “psychological reasons” the victim could not return to employment as a bus driver.
Judge Paul said Tucker’s offending not only affected the bus driver but his wider whanau.
“The impact of what you did to him on that day must have played on his mind and he couldn’t return to work,” he said. “Generously, he bears you no ill will.”
Judge Paul said Tucker’s offending was “ferocious and unprecedented”.
“You punched [the victim] full force five times. You dragged him to the grass verge. You grabbed him by the collar and punched him a further three times. You stomped on him while wearing your work boots.”
Judge Paul said the victim lost consciousness and needed to be hospitalised as a result of the attack.
In the police summary that Tucker pleaded guilty to in April, the victim was said to be crawlingon his hands and knees in an attempt to get up.
The summary said the force of Tucker’s stomps on his victim was of such power that it caused the bus driver’s head to bounce off the bus floor and make a thudding sound as it connected.
Corrections: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the victim had moved on from the city and that the prosecutor, Tere Rei, was a sergeant.
