Basher blames ‘peasant’ victim’s injuries on poor nutrition

A Christchurch man has claimed the victim of a bus stop bashing may have got broken bones as he was a beneficiary whose bones may have been brittle because of poor nutrition.

James Ian Norman Bisset, 30, described his victim as ‘‘just a peasant’’ in the Probation Service interview ahead of his Christchurch District Court sentencing yesterday.

The Aranui drainlayer’s interview comments were described as extraordinary and outrageous by Judge John Macdonald, who sentenced him by video-link on a charge of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm.

Bisset did not turn up for his sentencing earlier in the day and an arrest warrant was issued. He turned up later claiming a time mix-up and was held in custody until the video-link with the judge could be arranged again.

Police said Bisset and another attacker punched and kicked the man while he was on the ground on November 29 last year. The victim’s jaw was broken in three places and needed surgical placement of titanium plates and screws. He also had bruising and swelling to the head.

Bisset told police he punched the man because the man had threatened his family. The victim impact statement said the victim had now left the city because he was fearful and he did not know Bisset. He suffered pain from the injury and had repeatedly been back to hospital because his jaw was still misaligned.

Bisset also said that if the incident had happened four years ago, when he was still a member of the Hell’s Angels gang, he would simply have got a shotgun and shot him.

‘‘I am unsure whether you were serious in all those comments,’’ said the judge.

Bisset’s partner and children were in court as the judge jailed him for four years.