Baseball bat attacker who aimed for head could have killed victim, avoids jail

Masiya Deklin Dre Taiaroa was told he could have killed the man he attacked with a baseball bat if he had connected with his head. Photo / Thinkstock

A defendant who attacked his victim with a baseball bat had “wisdom beyond his years” but didn’t use it on the day of the assault.

Masiya Deklin Dre Taiaroa appeared in the Whanganui District Court on Monday for sentencing on charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon.

The 20-year-old had attacked his victim with a co-offender at a shopping centre on July 1, 2022, the police summary of facts stated.

One of the group Taiaroa was with yelled at the victim from a ramp to the carpark but when the man went to see what they wanted, three associates joined the group.

“Fearing for his safety the victim called to his partner to retrieve a bat he had in his car.”

While brandishing the bat, the man warned the group to leave him and his partner alone but this provoked Taiaroa to grab a weapon of his own, a baseball bat from his vehicle.

Seeing the weapon, the victim ran away but was chased by Taiaroa and his co-offender, who caught him and a fight broke out.

The co-offender punched the victim and tried to hold him still so Taiaroa could get a clear shot with the baseball bat.

“The defendant attempted to strike the victim in the head with the baseball bat, however the victim blocked the strike with his forearm.”

The impact of the blow snapped a bone in the man’s forearm and he required medical treatment at hospital.

After police were called the assailants fled the scene in a black SUV.

Defence lawyer Mark McGhie said Taiaroa was in full-time employment and had not previously appeared before the courts.

McGhie said Taiaroa didn’t use alcohol or drugs as he had witnessed the violence it caused while he was growing up. e had little connection with his Māori heritage, McGhie said.

Taiaroa had also engaged with a non-violence programme.

Judge Jonathan Krebs said Taiaroa’s mature attitude to his own rehabilitation by starting the programme, and remorse and abstinence from alcohol and drugs after witnessing the effects it had on his whānau, showed he had “wisdom beyond his years”.

“It’s actually become a positive because you saw the harm it had done and you stayed away from it.”

However, he also warned Taiaroa the outcome of the attack could have been much more serious.

“If you had connected with his head, you could well have killed him.”

The judge acknowledged Taiaroa’s whānau in the public gallery supporting him.

“It’s important for him to see and sense the aroha you bring,” Judge Krebs said.

While McGhie sought a sentence of community detention and intensive supervision, Judge Krebs wasn’t prepared to go that low.

“What occurred here was particularly serious violence,” he said.

Starting with a sentence of 48 months’ imprisonment, Judge Krebs allowed Taiaroa discounts for his early guilty pleas, young age, lack of previous offending and remorse.

The discounts reduced the sentence to 24 months’ imprisonment which the judge then converted to 10 months of home detention.

Judge Krebs said if Taiaroa hadn’t begun the rehabilitation process on his own, he would have sent him to jail.

Taiaroa was also ordered to do 150 hours of community work and to pay his victim $250 in emotional harm reparation.