Brave neighbour gets judge's praise - and criminal record

A man who went to the aid of his neighbour has been convicted and discharged of possessing an offensive weapon.

Paul Espiner, of Inglewood, grabbed a machete and confronted men who were threatening to kill a woman with a baseball bat one day last October, the New Plymouth District Court was told.

The main intruder had been dealt with earlier, and was given diversion, meaning he had to write a letter of apology, avoided a criminal conviction and had his name suppressed, the Taranaki Daily News reported.

The drama began when the terrified daughter of a neighbour came rushing to Espiner to tell him that there were intruders in her house threatening to kill her mother.

Espiner grabbed a machete he used for chopping wood, telling his 7-year-old daughter to call 111. Then he went to help his neighbour.

The intruder had by then smashed things inside the house, and was starting on the woman's car, Espiner said.

"I yelled at him from the driveway, because I could hear [the neighbour] screaming," he said.

Seeing Espiner with the machete, the intruder got into a waiting car, driven by an accomplice.

"He was saying they'd be back, so I smashed the driver's window and said: 'Well, I'll be waiting'."

Police visited him four days later and he was arrested and charged with damaging the car and possession of an offensive weapon.

"I said, 'You're kidding'. They were more worried about what I'd done with the machete than what the men could have done. If I hadn't gone there, they would have had about 15 minutes before the police came."

Espiner was even more annoyed to find that the intruder had been given diversion for his offending.

Police dropped the intentional damage charge in exchange for a guilty plea on the weapons charge.

"They [the intruders] walked away from the whole thing laughing and I've been convicted," he said.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Malcolm Greig said Espiner's damage to the car was at issue, not his behaviour until then.

"If he'd not lashed out with the machete, he may not have been charged," he said. "As soon as he started chopping up the car, the actions were no longer of a reasonable nature."

Judge Louis Bidois agreed. "There's no doubt you did the honourable thing in going down there - you did more than what most would do - but the reality is that you went a bit far," he said.

"You are to be commended and praised for the actions you took up until about the last 20 seconds."

After the hearing Espiner said there were too many vicious attacks on women.

"When someone steps in and prevents a lady from being a statistic, they are charged, arrested and brought before the courts - what was I supposed to do?"

So would Espiner react in the same way again?

"I'd do what I had to do."

- NZPA