Assaulter’s appeal dismissed

A man convicted for his role in a pub brawl in which a patron lost an eye has had his appeal thrown out by a High Court judge.

Stefan John Hipirini Kahu previously pleaded guilty to his role in a September 2017 fight at New Plymouth’s Nag N’ Noggin bar, which also involved his brother, Hiwawa, and their father John.

The brawl took place about 10.15pm on September 9, 2017, in the hours following the All Blacks versus Argentina clash at Yarrow Stadium. It arose out of a dispute between the three and another man. But Stefan Kahu and his

20-year-old brother backed the victim into a corner, punching him around the face and head, while John Kahu struck the man on his back at least twice with a bar stool.

During the assault Hiwawa Kahu pushed his thumb into the victim’s eyeball and pulled it, resulting in the victim permanently losing his sight in that eye, the court was told.

Stefan Kahu applied for a discharge without conviction, and submissions made on the 32-yearold’s behalf cited the impact a conviction for common assault would have on his life-long dream to join the fire service.

But he was convicted and fined $1000, of which $750 was to be paid to the victim.

Kahu appealed, alleging there had been a miscarriage of justice due to the judge failing to properly consider all the evidence, and because of fresh evidence, an email from the fire service explaining the effects of a conviction on his application to join the service. Since 2015, Kahu had applied several times but had not been successful due to the competitive nature of the process.

However, he stated he was committed to continue applying.

A representative of the Fire Service later confirmed in an email that Kahu’s conviction would be ‘‘looked upon unfavourably and would not bode well for future applications’’.

But in the High Court of New Zealand New Plymouth Registry, Justice Churchman said the email from the Fire Service would not meet the criteria of fresh evidence.

‘‘This information could have been sought from the Fire Service and made available prior to sentencing,’’ the judge said in his decision, which was reached on Tuesday and released on Wednesday.

‘‘While it cannot be stated definitively that Mr Kahu would never be accepted into the fire service with this conviction, there is a real and appreciable risk of his not being selected.’’

However, that risk did not outweigh the seriousness of the offending, the judge said.

The court was told that Kahu, who works as an electrician in Wellington, had two previous convictions of an historical nature, which were subject to the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004. In having another conviction entered, the Act would no longer apply to his previous convictions, Stefan Kahu’s lawyer S Campbell told the hearing.

However, the Crown argued that was a natural consequence of reoffending, and the judge agreed.

‘‘It is my view that the Judge did not err in finding the consequences of a conviction for Mr Kahu were not out of all proportion to the gravity of the offending.

‘‘While there is an appreciable risk that Mr Kahu may be barred from entry into his desired profession, it is a very competitive role and it was never guaranteed that, but for this conviction, he would have become a firefighter.’’

The appeal was dismissed by the judge.