Headbutt attacker escapes record

A volunteer firefighter from Featherston has been discharged without conviction for headbutting a man who still needs medical treatment nearly two years after the attack.

The victim, who already had a degenerative health issue, has been left with difficulties walking and loss of sensation in his lower body nearly two years after the assault.

On the day of the attack, in November 2018, Nicholas Mark Burt had been drinking at a wine bar in Martinborough. Several times he confronted the victim who was there with Burt’s former girlfriend.

The victim ignored him but when he went out into a courtyard, Burt attacked him without provocation.

Burt headbutted him, rendering him unconscious even before he hit the ground. The victim, who required surgery and ongoing medical care opposed a discharge without conviction for Burt.

Burt’s lawyer, Mike Antunovic, told Wellington District Court judge Peter Butler yesterday that Burt had served the community for years, both as a volunteer firefighter and as a paramedic for St John Ambulance.

He said part of the issue, as outlined in a letter from a psychiatrist, was a depressive illness brought on by the break-up of the previous relationship, the impact of trauma and his use of alcohol.

Antunovic said any convictions would mean Burt would lose his job and would no longer be able to serve the community as a volunteer.

‘‘He has given years of services, in things like search and rescue, [and] spent years of his life helping other people.’’

The victim, in an impact statement read out to the court, said it was only since March this year that he had been able to go back to work properly and it had been exhausting.

He still needed therapy and remained under his surgeon’s care.

Judge Butler said the victim, who was a chef, had also lost some of the fine motor skills in his hands.

Burt has no previous convictions, and the judge considered the offence to be at the low to mid range in seriousness.

He said a conviction now would mar his future, and he discharged Burt without conviction.