No conviction in toothbrush assault of boy
A former Christchurch Boys’ High School student charged after violating another student with a toothbrush has emerged with a clean record.
The youth, who was 17 at the time of the September 2018 incident, was discharged without conviction when he appeared before Judge Jane Farish in the Christchurch District Court yesterday.
He was also granted permanent name suppression.
He had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of indecent assault, which was reduced from a sexual violation charge laid when the youth was first arrested.
Although a number of boys were involved, the accused was the only student charged in relation to the assault.
The students were part of a Boys’ High sports team attending a North Island event when the incident occurred. It appears the accused was angry that someone had urinated on the handle of his toothbrush and confronted one of his teammates. The complainant was seen to be laughing.
Later, a group gathered in a bedroom and, having decided to sleep naked, engaged in some play fighting. The victim’s top was pulled over his head and his pants pulled down.
The accused, who came into the room, was handed a toothbrush, which he inserted into the boy’s anus.
It was immediately clear the hijinks had gone too far and the accused apologised repeatedly. The two had been friends and were both high achievers.
Discharges without conviction are ordered under the Sentencing Act when the consequences of the conviction would be out of proportion to the seriousness of the offending.
Judge Farish said the paths of the complainant and the accused had been very similar ‘‘in terms of the fallout to this event’’ and it was clear the complainant still held the wider group responsible.
Both the accused and the complainant had been poorly served by the justice system, she said.
‘‘Project Restore [a restorative justice scheme] should have been pursued by the police at the first instance.
‘‘You should not have been charged in my view. The flow-on effects from the criminal justice system being utilised have been
Judge Jane Farish
detrimental not only to the complainant but also to you [accused]. So perhaps there will be lessons learnt.’’
The judge had, earlier this year, asked the parties to have one last attempt at restorative justice.
Jonathan Eaton, QC, appearing for the accused, said he hoped lessons would be learnt from how the case had been dealt with at the early stages: ‘‘... the police laying a charge that only pushed people into corners and forced people to take sides and form views instead of creating an environment where it could have been talked through as a group of young men.’’
His client had felt isolated. ‘‘When I first got briefed, I went straight to the Crown counsel and said we’re in the wrong place to sort something like this out and, unfortunately, this fell on deaf ears.’’