Judge condemns scarring with lighters

A judge has raised concerns about the widespread actions of young people branding other inebriated people with hot lighters and scarring them with what was known as a ‘‘smiley’’.

During the sentencing of Daniel Trevor Nelson, 17, shearer, of Clyde, in the Alexandra District Court yesterday Judge Stephen Coyle said ‘‘the court will not tolerate drunk people being scarred in this manner’’.

Nelson was sentenced to

four months’ community detention for injuring with reckless disregard and assault after burning two unsuspecting victims with a hot cigarette lighter between October 1 and November 30 last year.

Nelson attacked one of the victims by pressing the hot metal section of the lighter on his face whenhe fell asleep at a party after drinking half a bottle of gin.

The victim woke up the next day and was treated for his injuries by a concerned family member and suffered from U-shaped scars, also know as a ‘‘smiley’’, on his right cheek.

The second victim received a scar on her thigh after Nelson pressed a hot lighter on her leg, at a different party, when she walked towards him.

Nelson was thrown out of the party, but he denied burning her with a lighter, saying she walked into a lit cigarette that he was smoking.

The judge said a victim impact statement made by one of the victims said that the incident had changed their life for the worse and led to a change of attitude and substance abuse.

The judge also remanded Nelson until May 1 for a disputed facts hearing after he admitted four incidents of graffiti in Clyde on October 27 last year, but denied taking part in 18 other incidents.

Police prosecutor Ian Collin said Nelson’s DNA was found on a cigarette at one of the sites.