Little nipper leaves a mark
When their dad was being attacked during a trip to the beach, a little nipper left their mark on the assailant.
At the end of the incident, serial protester Benjamin Morland Easton was seen pouring water over a bite mark one of the victim’s five children had made.
Easton, 58, has lost an appeal against his conviction for assault and the sentence of 80 hours’ community work.
A Court of Appeal decision issued yesterday said that the victim and five of his children heard someone shouting something like, ‘‘F... off’’ while at Waitaha Cove beach on Wellington’s south coast, on the evening of January 11.
Easton emerged from a truck and started pushing the victim with a finger. He continued doing so while the victim tried to record the incident on his phone, which he dropped, the court said.
Easton then punched the man under the eye, according to evidence heard in the case. The pair were wrestling on the ground when a third man was able to separate them.
Another person arrived and was consoling the children, while Easton went back to his truck and was seen pouring water over a bite mark one of the children had made, the court said.
It was a second appeal attempt by Easton, who had already lost an appeal in the High Court against the outcome of the case in Wellington District Court.
Easton took issue with decisions by the District Court judge, including not letting him call evidence about issues that had caused friction between him and Wellington City Council. The judge said that was irrelevant to the charge.
Easton also said that even if the charge against him was proved, he should have been discharged because of contributions he had made to the community.
The victim had assaulted him, and the victim’s injuries were self-inflicted.
The Court of Appeal considered all points Easton raised, and decided none of them suggested anything untoward had happened during his trial that may have lead to a miscarriage of justice.