Demolition worker says he "snapped"

File photo / NZH

An overstressed demolition worker who assaulted a friend on Friday night has been sentenced to do community work.

Duty solicitor Shannon-Leigh Litt said Shane David Sampson-Arps had been working on demolitions in the centre of Christchurch the February 22 earthquake.

"He had requested counselling for what he had been seeing," she told Christchurch District Court Judge Michael Crosbie today. "He had found it very distressing, though he knows he acted out of turn by assaulting his friend."

Sampson-Arps, a 19-year-old labourer, pleaded guilty to the assault charge at a sitting of the court at Rangiora Court House today.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Jeff Kay said the incident happened at 8pm when Sampson-Arps and his friend were in a car outside a house in Aranui.

While they waited for a friend to come out of the house, Sampson-Arps repeatedly leaned across and sounded the horn.

They exchanged words about that and when they got out of the car Sampson-Arps punched his friend twice in the chest and once in the face. The victim's shirt was torn and he had a sore cheek.

He told police he had been under a lot of stress and was sorry for the assault.

Judge Crosbie noted that it was a lower level assault and Sampson-Arps was already on supervision for driving offences and burglary, but had no previous convictions for violence. He ordered him to do 80 hours of community work.

- NZPA