Man collapses in dock after guilty verdict

A Vietnamese man living in Nelson has been found guilty of hurting another man so badly his bowel was perforated in two places.

A jury in Nelson District Court yesterday took an hour to find Quang Van Nguyen, 50, guilty of assault and of causing grievous bodily harm to his boarder, Vietnamese national Thanh Van Nguyen, 39.

The defendant collapsed out of the dock and lay sobbing and moaning on the courtroom floor when the verdict was read out, the Nelson Mail reported.

Nguyen was jointly charged with a third Vietnamese national, Binh Van Tran, 47, on the more serious grievous bodily harm charge.

The three-day trial was carried out with the aid of Vietnamese interpreters in the Nelson District Court.

The Crown alleged Nguyen punched the complainant after they had been drinking beer and homemade alcohol.

The complainant maintained he had not seen who had hit him after the first one or two punches, but recalls being pushed, pulled and repeatedly hit and believed he must have been kicked in the stomach.

Nguyen's lawyer Herman Roose said the complainant was not beaten but fell and furniture with sharp edges could have caused the damage to his stomach.

Judge Tony Zohrab remanded Nguyen in custody for sentencing on July 31.

- NZPA