Attack on Sikh journalist case dismissed

NZ Punjabi News reporter Jaspreet Singh claimed he was attacked in 2018 while doing his job. Photo / File.

The case against a man who allegedly attacked a Sikh journalist covering a protest outside Unitec in Auckland in 2018 has been dismissed.

Judge D J Sharp dismissed the charge saying that after two years, the case has reached the stage where "it is a situation of no evidence being offered".

"This is not the most serious charge that exists and we have had a previous date on which the complainant was unable to attend and [the alleged attacker] and his witnesses have come to court again, ready to proceed," Judge Sharp said in his oral judgment.

NZ Punjabi News reporter Jaspreet Singh claimed at the time he was allegedly attacked on May 21, 2018, while covering a protest about vulgarities being used on social media by a migrant support worker.

Although the judgment was made on March 23 at the Auckland District Court, the 39-year-old man accused of the assault said he found out about it only last week because of delays caused as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The man said the matter had caused him mental stress and cost him financially, and had lost a few jobs he had as a builder.

"My family life was disturbed and I went through a lot of depression," he said.

However, he said the Judge's decision to dismiss the case would now restore his dignity and reputation in the community.