Resident punched in mouth

AS a Dunedin boarding house resident crawled from his home bleeding, the man who attacked him stood over him and yelled abuse.

Darryl Craig Green (53) had assaulted the victim because he believed the man had been thieving from a shared pantry.

When he was arrested, he was unrepentant.

‘‘The defendant remained belligerent and had no remorse for his actions. In explanation, he stated that the victim had been stealing his brother’s food and he deserved to be punched in the mouth,’’ the police summary said.

Green appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, having admitted charges of injuring with intent to injure, assaulting a police constable and resisting the same officer.

Counsel Andrew Dawson said his client had moved to Dunedin from Christchurch for a ‘‘fresh start’’ but it had only been a matter of days before the February 11 incident occurred.

Green had been drinking before the assault, the court heard.

While the victim prepared a meal in the kitchen, ‘‘without warning or provocation’’, the defendant approached him from behind and hit him in the back of the head.

When the man spun round to face his attacker, Green aimed five further punches at the victim’s face.

A serious wound to the man’s mouth caused him to bleed over himself and the floor of the Hope St residence.

‘‘Fearing for his safety, the victim crawled out of the kitchen on his hands and knees towards the front door of the address, pleading with the defendant to leave him alone. The defendant stood over and followed the victim out on to the street whilst verbally abusing him,’’ the summary said.

Judge Kevin Phillips described Green’s taunting as ‘‘demeaning and humiliating’’.

The victim escaped to a neighbouring house where he called police.

When officers arrived at the boarding house, they found the defendant, who smelled ‘‘strongly of wine’’, the summary said.

Green’s belligerent behaviour continued, as he verbally abused police all the way to the station. He kicked out at officers when he was placed in a cell and later kneed one in the thigh while they his pockets were searched.

A warning was not enough to deter another violent outburst and Green was eventually ‘‘forcibly restrained’’ by four officers.

Mr Dawson accepted his client’s alcohol intake was a primary factor in his demeanour that night and the man had also stopped taking his medication.

Judge Phillips said the victim had needed stitches in his mouth and had refused to meet Green for a restorative-justice conference.

The defendant had convictions for violence, driving offences and breaching court orders.

Green was jailed for two years and one month.