KEY POINTS:
A former South Auckland police officer who repeatedly punched a handcuffed man in the back of a patrol was told by a judge he had brought shame to the police.
Alexander Grant, 32, was sentenced to 16 months in prison by Judge Simon Lockhart, QC, after being found
guilty at trial of injuring with intent to injure. He granted him leave to apply for home detention, saying he had "taken into account the problems you will face in serving a prison sentence".
Manukau District Court was told Grant arrested, pepper-sprayed and handcuffed Hemi Koia after being called to a fight at Mr Koia's Manurewa home in July 2003.
Grant placed a verbally abusive Mr Koia in the back seat of the patrol car and asked him how it felt now he was not the one in control. He then punched and elbowed Mr Koia up to 20 times, at one stage knocking him unconscious and leaving him bleeding from the nose and spitting blood.
Although Judge Lockhart said there was a "degree of provocation", he condemned the assault as "cowardly and excessive".
"You have brought disgrace to the police force and endangered the integrity of the police," he said.
"In any event, you have to accept that no blows should have been struck at all. Here was a man who was handcuffed and quite unable to protect himself from assault and quite clearly you assaulted him. Such conduct has to be denounced to deter other people from committing the same or other offences."
Speaking after yesterday's sentencing, Detective Senior Sergeant Neil Grimstone said he agreed with the facts presented in court and said it was not a good look for police.
"At the end of the day it was not a good day for New Zealand police but it was a worse day for Alex Grant."
Grant's sentencing follows the conviction of former South Auckland senior sergeant Anthony Solomona for assaulting a 17-year-old on the forecourt of a Manurewa service station in 2005.
His heavy-handed policing techniques were criticised by Judge Bruce Davidson, who condemned a wider "sick" police culture.
An independent inquiry did not find evidence of a national police culture of violence but said the now-disbanded Counties Manukau emergency response group had degraded people in custody.
Defence lawyer Peter Boylan said he had received no instruction from Grant to appeal against the sentence, but would not comment further.
