Rugby star fined for bashing mate

Japanese rugby player Amanaki Mafi has been fined $50,000 and discharged without conviction after a late night bust-up with a former Melbourne Rebels teammate.

Mafi, 29, pleaded guilty to assault with intent to injure Lopeti Timani, who he has known since they were children growing up in Tonga. The charge has a maximum penalty of three years’ jail.

The pair went to the home of a family member of Mafi, after their team lost 43-37 to the Highlanders in Dunedin on July 14.

They were drinking into the early hours of the next morning and became intoxicated.

Mafi became enraged after Timani used an offensive word in front of a female relative, and challenged him to a fight. The pair scuffled before being separated by Mafi’s family members. Timani fled. He hid in bushes at nearby Bathgate Park, but Mafi found him and punched and kicked him before bundling him into the back of a vehicle. Mafi told police he only stopped punching when he thought Timani had had enough. Timani, who is now based in France, told the he thought he would be killed.

Mafi was excused from appearing before Judge John MacDonald in the Dunedin District Court yesterday.

His lawyer, Anne Stevens, QC, argued his Japanese rugby contract would be ‘‘ripped up’’ if a conviction was entered, which was out of proportion with the offending.

Stevens told the court a restorative justice meeting was turned down, but Mafi had written a letter of apology.

Judge MacDonald said Timani suffered physical injuries, including swelling to the base of his skull and neck. His concussion also affected his rugby playing for six months.

He noted the offending was in the ‘‘moderately serious’’ range, but it was Mafi’s first-time before the courts and he was clearly remorseful.

Mafi’s actions were overreaction’’.

A conviction could lead to the termination of his contract, which was acknowledged by the Crown’s lawyer, Robin Bates.

MacDonald did not know the precise terms of Mafi’s contract, but understood it to be ‘‘significant if not substantial’’.

The Melbourne Rebels fined the pair A$15,000 (NZ$15,500) over the incident.

Mafi will have to pay $50,000, which includes Timani’s fine and $20,000 in medical expenses.

Amanaki Mafi

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