Man convicted of bashing prisoner in police van

One of the two men on trial for assaulting a Richmond man in the back of a police van has been found guilty by a Nelson jury.

The jury of eight woman and four men yesterday took nearly six hours to find Isaac Guyer, 23, of Nelson guilty of intentionally injuring the man on May 30 last year.

The jury found Rikki Davis, 32, also of Nelson, not guilty of the same charge.

Guyer, Davis and a third man, Jonathon Smith, all initially faced two charges of intentionally injuring the man who was last year acquitted of murdering his severely brain-damaged daughter. The complainant has permanent name suppression.

Judge David McKegg dropped the charges against Smith on Tuesday and one of the two charges against Guyer and Davis yesterday, all due to a lack of evidence.

Summing up the case yesterday, Judge McKegg told jurors they had to decide whether Guyer had been involved and whether Davis had incited the attack while he was segregated from the other inmates in the police van.

Under cross examination yesterday Davis maintained he saw and heard nothing of the attack.

Guyer's defence counsel Tony Bamford said his client questioned the complainant about the circumstances around his daughter's death but had not assaulted him.

Crown prosecutor Glen Marshall said the case came down to an issue of credibility.

Guyer was remanded in custody overnight and was due back in court today for a bail hearing. He will be sentenced on June 21.

Two other inmates in the van, Whetu John Lee and Dennis Peter Steenhof were sentenced to two years and three months in jail last September after pleading guilty to the assault.

A third man charged with the assault is believed to be in Australia.

- nzpa