Man used stockwhip on boys who ran over his dog

A Whangarei man has been jailed for using a stockwhip to teach two teenage brothers a lesson after they ran over his dog.

Frank Kaire, 35, of Kamo, pleaded guilty in Whangarei District Court yesterday to two charges of assault with a weapon after admitting hitting one teen with a whip and narrowly missing the other. He was sentenced to six months' jail.

The court was told the brothers, aged 14 and 15, were driving past Kaire's Pipiwai Rd home on November 29 when their vehicle hit Kaire's dog.

They had followed the hobbling dog to Kaire's home and told him what had happened.

He had asked the youths to go with him to the rear of the property and check on the dog and as they did so had grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and asked them to turn around.

He had then flicked a whip at the youths, striking one on his forearms and behind a knee. The other was struck lightly on the back of his jeans.

The older brother sustained a scratched neck and welts to his forearm and the back of a knee, but did not require medical treatment.

His younger brother was uninjured but frightened.

Kaire, through his lawyer Dave Sayes, apologised to the brothers in court. "His remorse is genuine," said Mr Sayes, who asked Judge Keith de Ritter to impose community work and possibly supervision rather than imprisonment.

But Judge de Ritter said imprisonment was appropriate, with home detention denied.

"There was physical harm and I have no doubt these two teenage boys were absolutely terrified when an adult man marched them to the back of the house and lined them up and hit them with a stockwhip," the judge said.

Kaire had taken advantage of the boys' "openness and honesty" after they had confessed to hitting the dog. His actions had an element of premeditation and their injuries could have been worse, the judge said.

"You have to stand up and take your medicine. This behaviour cannot be tolerated."

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)