Road-rage hammer attack man jailed for five years

Toma-akino Lauaki. Herald picture / Paul Estcourt

A man caught on security camera bashing a truck driver with a hammer in a road rage attack was jailed in Manukau District Court today for five years.

Toma-akino Lauaki earlier admitted assaulting Barry Fletcher with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was due to be sentenced in October but the case was adjourned when Lauaki's lawyer Frank Hogan said he would call evidence to show Mr Fletcher's driving provoked the attack.

Lauaki was caught on security camera pulling Mr Fletcher from his truck and beating him with a hammer in the Auckland suburb of Mangere.

Judge Jane Lovell-Smith told Lauaki the starting point for the crime was seven years but she took into account his early guilty plea, the fact he was under severe emotional stress at the time because of his wife's illness, and his genuine remorse.

"What you did, Mr Lauaki, was to take the law into your own hands which cannot be condoned in our society.

"Afterwards Lauaki's wife Valeti refused to comment on the sentence or whether it would be appealed but said she supported her husband "100 percent".

Victim Barry Fletcher said the five year sentence was an excellent result but more than he had expected.

He accepted Lauaki's expression of remorse and his apology.

In court today, Lauaki's lawyer Frank Hogan said the victim provoked the incident by driving very close behind Lauaki's van in his big truck, tooting his horn in a provocative manner and pulling alongside him so closely that Lauaki was forced to mount the kerb.

- NZPA