Businesswoman offers to pay mother's assault fine

A businesswoman is offering to pay the fine of a mother who was convicted of assaulting an 11-year-old boy who was bullying her disabled son.

The mother, who has permanent name suppression, was fined $200 in Nelson District Court this week after admitting punching the boy who allegedly bullied and spat on her partially blind son.

Miranda Wood Van Dyke, founder of the Nelson-based New Zealand Nature Company, said today she felt so outraged by the story that she wanted to pay the mother's fine.

While not condoning assault on children, Mrs Wood Van Dyke said she understood, as a mother, why the woman reacted as she did.

"Everyone is very protective of their children and probably even more so if they have a disability.

"I find it incredible that kids would behave like that and that parents would tolerate that. The parents must have approached police for them to prosecute her."

Senior Sergeant John Price today defended the police's decision to prosecute the mother, although he would not discuss the events leading to the prosecution.

The circumstances of the case "doesn't alter the fact that she assaulted the boy", he said.

"She was prosecuted because she committed an offence."

The mother said today said she was "amazed" by Mrs Wood Van Dyke's offer to pay her fine and planned to gratefully accept.

But she did not resent police for charging her with assault.

"There was no excuse. I should have never done what I did," she said.

She said she had wanted to discuss the situation with the boy's parents but lost control when confronted by the child.

It was understandable the parents laid a complaint because their boy had been assaulted, she said.

- nzpa