A Far North man whose hunger strike over Work and Income food grant policy made national headlines has been convicted and discharged for smashing two windows at the agency's Kaikohe office.
That means Sam Kuha, 59, will have a record but will face no further punishment. He has already agreed to pay the $480 repair bill at $10 a week.
The Kaikohe invalid beneficiary went to Winz on September 14 last year to apply for an emergency grant after running out of food and money. He was told he had to see a budgeter first, but had to wait three weeks for an appointment.
He went on hunger strike and four days later made the 4km trek into town on his electric wheelchair to draw attention to his protest with a sledgehammer. He lifted his hunger strike 30 days later when Social Development Minister Paula Bennett agreed to hear his concerns face-to-face.
In the Kaikohe District Court on Friday Judge Greg Davis accepted lawyer Steve Nicholson's request for a conviction and discharge. Kuha had agreed to pay for the windows, had admitted a charge of wilful damage, and had been punished enough by having his personal life dragged through newspapers and TV, he said.