Arrest warrant issued for rapper Tom Francis who parked his Lamborghini in a disabled space

Tom Francis on his Instagram page.

A judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of a star of the popular Facebook page S**t Drivers of New Zealand.

Thomas Macdonald, 29, a rapper who prefers the humble stage name of Tom Francis, failed to appear for sentencing at the Waitākere District Court on Thursday morning.

He pleaded guilty in July to a charge of assault when he went at an older, shorter man at a New Lynn auto-repair factory.

His lawyer, Ginrick Credo, was scheduled to seek a discharge without conviction, but instead informed Judge Gus Andree Wiltens that he had been sacked.

Asked about his former client’s whereabouts, Credo shrugged, and his hair, fashioned into a very striking quiff, flopped forward.

The rapper’s absence deprived the court of the company of someone who collaborated with Snoop Dogg but is far more famous for parking his orange Lamborghini in disabled parking spaces.

He was busted for it on social media and on S**t Drivers of New Zealand, an entertaining Facebook account with 35,000 followers.

The commentary was most disrespectful and it led to Macdonald aka Francis showing up at the New Lynn auto repair address, next to a dog kennel in the factory wastelands of West Auckland, to confront one of the posters.

A police summary of events was presented in court.

It read: “At approximately 12.20pm on May 3, the defendant arrived uninvited and proceeded speaking with the victim about previous history between the pair.”

They had never met; their “previous history” was conducted in the jungles of the online world.

“A verbal argument ensued whilst the victim was recording using his mobile phone, escalating to the point of the defendant stepping towards the victim and standing chest to chest with him.

“Whilst the victim was filming holding the mobile phone in his right hand, the defendant then proceeded to slap the victim’s hand, causing the cellphone to be launched onto the ground.

“The defendant followed the victim around and argued with him over the next few minutes whilst standing at times chest to chest with him.

“The victim made repeated efforts to walk away and increase the distance between him and the defendant.

Hawke's Bay rapper Tom Francis.

“However, the defendant continued to follow the victim around the workshop whilst cornering him into different parts of the store and pushing him in the chest approximately six times with both hands.

“As the victim was attempting to walk away from the defendant, he proceeded to use both hands to push the victim in the back, causing him to fall forwards.

“The argument continued for approximately five minutes before the defendant left prior to police arriving.”

The summary concludes by noting the victim suffered no injuries, and the defendant stating he did not touch the man or behave in a threatening manner.

But the recording shows the rapper offering to go “mano o mano” in a cage fight for a $10,000 purse.

The incident is the latest bad thing in an itinerary of bad things for Francis aka Macdonald.

It’s not so much a case of no such thing as bad publicity as a case that this guy seldom attracts any other kind of publicity.

Photos appeared this year of his Lambo in a disabled parking spot in Taupō in the same week another photo appeared of the Lambo in disabled parking in Albany’s Westfield Mall. They attracted a social media pile-on of scorn, outrage and, worst of all, mockery.

Tom Francis' orange Lamborghini was spotted in a disabled parking space at Albany Westfield.

They laughed at his music, they laughed at his swag, they laughed particularly loudly at his supposed wealth.

His father owns Stu Macdonald Motors in Hastings. His family lives in the district’s most expensive suburb, Poraiti.

Facebook haters claim his Dad gave him $250,000 to give to Snoop Dogg to feature on one of his songs.

They say so many terrible things about him on social media. He has hit back, with posts such as: “Shut up you fat f**k!” And: “I’ll show you what it’s like to be injured from a chainsaw.” Also, most ominously: “You will meet the devil.”

Thomas Douglas Francis Macdonald was born on February 17, 1995. When he was 24, he pleaded guilty to a charge of injuring with reckless disregard: he had punched a guy in the face through an open car window, instantly breaking the victim’s nose.

The court was told the man had ongoing pain and breathing difficulties, and needed further surgery on his nose.

Hawke's Bay rapper Tom Francis on stage.

But in interviews about his music career, Macdonald aka Francis has emphasised his humility, his work ethic, his self-sufficiency.

Asked about his background, he once said, “I was just doing firewood, working in forestry cutting trees down and stuff like that, typical Hawke’s Bay kind of stuff. I was making music at the same time and was trying to fund it all.”

Hawke’s Bay guy works his way up the showbiz ladder by the sweat of his brow: it’s an honourable backstory, but there is a dishonourable aside.

He appeared on Fair Go when the show investigated claims he was ripping off elderly customers by selling them wet firewood.

“This is not about me parking in a disabled car park,” he posted on social media, after he was called out for parking in a disabled space.

“It’s about the opportunity for every f**king loser who’s done f**k-all to try cut someone down…All you b***h made wastemens!”

That last line is really good, and suggests he actually does have some talent.

He was profiled by Te Ao Māori News in October. The story began, “Ngāti Kahungunu rapper Tom Francis is on the verge of completing his next album featuring some of America’s biggest names. He’s dropped tracks with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Twista and now The Game”.

Rap superstar Snoop Dogg with Tom Francis.

The article also quoted him on hosting international artists at his home.

US rapper YBN Nahmir stayed in October.

“It’s become the norm here. We’ve got the studio here in the house. We’ve got the whole setup. He’s over here doing a tour and so, yeah, he’s come out here for a few days.”

But if there is one thing we love more than someone succeeding, it’s someone failing, in public.

“Everybody dissin’ you man,” as Ice-T once addressed MC Hammer, the 90s rapper mocked for his crazy big pants.

“They just jealous. F**k ‘em!”

Francis has had so much going for him.

This is the guy who shared a stage with Snoop Dogg.

He appeared as a guest on The Project and dazzled the hosts (”I’m so happy to be here!”) He is much loved: the video of his assault in New Lynn shows him getting into a ute with a real cute dog sitting in the passenger seat.

Things could even have worked out okay had he turned up in the district court in Henderson on Thursday morning.

Judge Andree Wiltens was in a forgiving mood.

He dealt with another case, a man who had run up 12 driving offences, but the judge decided against disqualifying him so he could get himself to his shiftwork job at 4.30am five days a week.

The judge waited 20 minutes for the rapper to appear.

He ordered a small adjournment to give him a bit more time.

Court staff waited in the strange little courtroom, its seating tilted at a 60-degree angle.

But there was no sign of him, and an arrest warrant was duly issued on Thomas Douglas Francis Macdonald aka Tom Francis.