KEY POINTS:
Two young men "with promise" were today jailed for two years for the street bashing of a man who went outside his Christchurch home late at night when he heard letterboxes being smashed.
The pair pleaded guilty to intentionally injuring the man who was bashed unconscious and then repeatedly kicked as he lay on the footpath. They left him lying there in freezing conditions.
Family and friends of Tohe Wika Tipene, 19, and David Sa Gower, 21, were left calling messages from the public seats, or crying as the pair were led away to begin their prison terms.
One man sat weeping and had to be helped from the courtroom.
Christchurch District Court was told the victim was left with permanent scarring, a metal plate in his face, on-going headaches, damaged teeth, broken glasses, and he could only make a gradual return to work.
Each of the accused was also ordered to pay $1375 reparations by Judge Paul Kellar in the Christchurch District Court sentencing.
The incident happened after the unemployed pair had spent the night out drinking.
Counsel for Tipene Steve Hembrow said his client was "simply a good boy" who could not understand how the assault occurred.
He had gone to work to take on responsibilities to support his pregnant partner at an early age. He was a skilled rugby league player.
They had a second child, but Tipene had not had the emotional capability of coping with the death of one of the children last year.
Counsel for Gower, Bridget Ayrey said her client was remorseful. He showed a great deal of promise, and had a one year old son. He had returned from sporting achievements in Australia.
Judge Kellar said it had been a random act of unnecessary violence by two men on a single vulnerable victim who received extensive head and back injuries.
He still had trouble sleeping and might never recover from the emotional scarring.
He jailed both men for two years and said he would not consider allowing home detention.
- NZPA
