Strip club bouncer jailed for attack on worker

A manager and bouncer at Christchurch strip club The Dolls' House has been jailed for 18 months for an assault the judge described as "outrageously vicious".

The assault was captured on security camera as the teenage victim was caught on a balcony outside the club's rear entrance off Chancery Lane.

The 19-year-old was assaulted and then kicked and stomped by Stephen Mark Kincaid, 31, who was described by Christchurch District Court Judge Michael Crosbie as being in the "hospitality security" industry, Christchurch Court News website reported.

"This is an industry that needs to continue to have a look at itself in terms of the background of those who come to work in it," said the judge.

He added to Kincaid's sentence for the assault with intent to injure because of his two earlier convictions for assault. For the latest, about two years ago, Kincaid was fined and released on supervision.

The youth was badly injured after the Chancery Lane incident, but the crown accepted that he had received skull and facial injuries in a fall from the balcony afterwards, and that Kincaid had not pushed him. The victim has lost the sight of one eye.

Kincaid had pleaded guilty to the charge, which related to an attack last July.

Defence counsel Paul McMenamin told the court The Dolls' House had been repeatedly hit by burglars and Kincaid had over-reacted and "exercised a certain amount of summary justice" when he found the victim on the balcony.

The youth said he was there to pick up cigarette butts, but Mr McMenamin said that could have been viewed with scepticism because he had had to use some agility for a difficult climb over a gate and onto a stairwell.

Judge Crosbie rejected the idea that the prolonged and vicious assault had been summary justice. The youth had presented no threat, even at the start when he was cowering. There was a mismatch in size and the victim had been dragged around "like a rag doll".

Judge Crosbie said the security camera footage showed the reality of what happened, compared to written police summaries of facts which tended to understate what had occurred.

"This can only be described as an outrageously vicious attack. This was completely and utterly over-the-top. He never struck back."

He rejected the assertion that Kincaid had been holding the youth until the police arrived. There had been many chances to stop and call the police during the prolonged beating, but Kincaid had kept going back to the victim.

The sentencing was a message for the hospitality security industry because it was not uncommon for judges in Christchurch and Timaru to see this type of case, the judge said.

- NZPA