Irate boatie assaults Raglan bridge jumper
A boatie returning from a day’s fishing in Raglan Harbour was so incensed by being splashed by a person jumping off the footbridge that he attempted to mow the jumper down with his boat.
Dion Wayne Murphy, 37, of Hamilton, was sentenced to nine months of supervision and ordered to undertake 40 hours of community work when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Friday.
Murphy, who was described as a sheet metal worker in court documents, had initially been charged with assault with a weapon, namely a boat. The charge was later downgraded to one of common assault and it was on that charge he was sentenced by Judge Kim Saunders.
It was about 6pm on February 14 when Murphy, who had been fishing in the harbour with two friends, was passing under the footbridge when his soon-to-be victim and another person did a ‘‘bomb’’ into the water, landing either side of the boat.
The resulting splash hit both Murphy and his boat. Annoyed, he put the boat into reverse and the vessel began backing towards the victim, who was in the water about 10 metres away.
‘‘I’m sorry,’’ the bomber yelled to Murphy, but this did little to mollify the maddened marriner.
The incident was seen by numerous onlookers on the bridge and the beach, some of whom were also yelling and swearing at Murphy due to his actions.
He then put his boat into ‘‘forward’’, and motored off to the boat ramp on Marine Parade.
‘‘He thought he was going to be diced,’’ the judge said.
Murphy had come to court with a handful of previous convictions, including one for male assaults female in 2017 and wilful damage in 2016, as well as earlier convictions for disorderly behaviour and driving offences.
A restorative justice conference was not deemed suitable for Murphy’s case.