Auckland healthcare worker needed nine stitches to face after random street attack

An Auckland healthcare worker needed nine stitches for a gaping wound in his lip after a coward-punch assault from a man he walked past in Karangahape Rd. Photo / NZME

The trauma of a “coward’s punch” that left a healthcare worker with a gaping face wound requiring nine stitches has seen the man struggle to continue with his job.

“It is really sad that we have someone who is contributing so positively to society, being assaulted in the way he has here,” Judge Quentin Hix told the Christchurch District Court.

The judge’s comment was made when the offender, 28-year-old Dayshan McCausland, appeared for sentencing last week.

He had previously admitted to the February assault against the healthcare worker, which occurred while the victim was walking to Auckland Hospital for work.

McCausland was charged with intentionally wounding with reckless disregard for safety and carrying a restricted weapon, namely a taser. He was also charged with failing to appear in court in June and September.

At the sentencing, Judge Hix said what struck him most about the lengthy victim impact statement was that the victim was employed at a hospital, helping others who were usually intoxicated or homeless. But now his work was being impacted by the anxiety he was suffering as a result of the attack.

The unprovoked bashing happened when the victim was walking to work early one morning. As he passed a group of intoxicated people outside a Karangahape Rd pub, McCausland yelled out to him.

While the victim did not respond, McCausland, of Christchurch, ran up behind him and forcefully swung his fist over the man’s right shoulder, striking his lip.

The man fell face-first onto the footpath, striking his head on the edge of a building.

The court heard McCausland then walked away without checking on his victim. The man had sustained a cut to his lip that needed nine stitches to close.

McCausland’s hotel room was later searched by police and a taser was found. Following his arrest he told officers he had no recollection of the attack because he’d had too much to drink.

Judge Hix said that although it was only one punch, it was to the head which was “concerning”. He described it as a “coward’s punch”.

McCausland was sentenced to six months of home detention with 12 months of post-detention conditions and ordered to pay the victim $1215 reparation.