Robert Ngarimu Simpkins at sentencing last month in the Rotorua District Court. PHOTO/FILE
Robert Ngarimu Simpkins at sentencing last month in the Rotorua District Court. PHOTO/FILE
Rotorua Boys' High School's head of rugby has appealed his conviction for assaulting three teenage boys.
An appeal was lodged in the High Court at Rotorua on Friday, a court spokeswoman confirmed. A date for the appeal had not yet been set.
Robert Ngarimu Simpkins was convicted of four countsof assault last month after pleading guilty in July. He was ordered to pay emotional harm reparation totalling $1250 to two of the victims.
His lawyer, Max Simpkins, had unsuccessfully argued for a discharge without conviction, stating such a blemish on Ngarimu Simpkins' otherwise clean record would negatively impact his employment.
The charges related to an incident in January 2015 when he and his father, Robert Miroa Simpkins, chased the boys, after one attempted to steal a pair of shoes from the Simpkins' Ngongotaha home. His father was also convicted of assault and ordered to pay $250 reparation.
No appeal has been submitted for Robert Miroa Simpkins.
Up until his sentencing Ngarimu Simpkins, a former Bay of Plenty Steamers player, worked at Rotorua Boys' High School as head of rugby and the coach of the 1st XV.
He went on leave while the board considered the matter.
