A man sent to prison for attacking Dutch campers at Matauri Bay with a baseball bat had harmed the travellers, the community and New Zealand's reputation, Judge John McDonald said in the Kaikohe District Court on Thursday.
Judge McDonald gave Leroy Thompson a prison sentence of three years and 10 months for aggravated robbery.
The judge said the sentence needed to be "truly deterrent or this country will continue to suffer from these kinds of attacks".
Thompson's crime was described by his lawyer Grant Anson and Crown prosecutor Moana Jarman-Taylor as chaotic and nonsensical.
On March 13, about 8.30pm, he had approached the Dutch couple's campervan at Matauri Bay and chatted with them.