Teenager ran down good samaritan

A man who put a stop to a woman being assaulted was later run down by the attacker with such force he became embedded in the car’s windscreen.

The 56-year-old victim was at a playground in Opunake, Taranaki, when he witnessed Rei Marshall grab a woman by her shirt and throw her to the ground.

According to a police summary of facts, the December 16, 2017, daylight incident came to an end when the man stepped in to assist the woman, who was with her 3-year-old daughter at the time. But about 25 minutes later, Marshall, a 19-yearold of Opunake, was leaving the playground in his vehicle when he spotted the man walking along the footpath across the street.

Marshall accelerated, drove across the road, up onto the footpath and ploughed the victim, who had no time to react. The impact threw the man into the car’s front windscreen with such force he became stuck, the summary of facts stated. The teen then accelerated along the footpath and heavily braked, causing the man to be thrown from the windscreen and on to the road. Marshall sped away from the scene and abandoned his car shortly after. He then went to the home of a local police officer and provided him with a false story of what had taken place.

In the New Plymouth District Court yesterday, the victim spoke of the multiple injuries, some of which required surgery, and lingering mental effects the incident had left him with. He sustained a 14-centimetre gash to his leg, facial cuts, a dislocated finger and torn tendons. But while the injuries were healing, he said the mental and emotional traumas were ongoing.

‘‘I find that whenever I walk past the sites in Opunake where the incidents occurred I have a chemical release of stress,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s like my body remembers what has happened and I come to an immediate halt.’’

Because the victim resides in the coastal town, he said this was unavoidable.

It was heard in court that the man had declined an invitation to attend a restorative justice conference with Marshall.

Defence lawyer Patrick Mooney, who entered pleas of guilty on a charge of male assaults female and wounds with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on behalf his client, argued because Marshall was willing to partake in the meeting his indicated jail sentence should be discounted.

Judge Garry Barkle said Marshall’s serious offending was a product of his upbringing.

He noted the teenager, who has an infant daughter, had little family support and a troubled childhood.

Barkle said Marshall would ‘‘pay a heavy price’’ for his offending and that jail would likely have a negative effect on someone of his age.

But Marshall had indicated he would enter into rehabilitative courses while in custody, for which Barkle praised him.

"I don’t think you’re without hope...I think you’ve got a chance,’’ he told Marshall, before handing down a sentence of three years and three months’ jail.

Marshall’s vehicle was also confiscated and he was disqualified from driving for 18 months.