A man was beaten with a hockey stick and had mince and cheese pies thrown at him. Photo / Stock Image 123rf
A man was beaten with a hockey stick and had mince and cheese pies thrown at him. Photo / Stock Image 123rf
A man was beaten with a hockey stick and had mince and cheese pies thrown at him by three disgruntled males who broke into his caravan while he was asleep.
The young Taranaki trio was unhappy that one of them had spent the day delivering bread but hadn't been paid $50 for the work.
The 29-year-old victim suffered a concussion, suspected fractures to his forearm and nose, and cuts and bruises across his body in the early morning November 21, 2021, attack, New Plymouth District Court was told on Thursday.
About a week prior, the victim, a self-employed handyman who supplements his income with a bread run, had asked Dylan Braydon Shewry, 19, if he wanted to make some money.
The victim lived in a caravan on Shewry's grandfather's rural property on the outskirts of New Plymouth.
He had become aware the teen did not have a job and was not on a benefit and so he asked Shewry to help him with the bread run, despite not needing assistance, in exchange for $50.
The two completed the work on November 13 and the victim promised to pay Shewry the following week.
On the afternoon of November 20, Shewry was drinking alcohol with Jacob Roy Fletcher, 22, and another friend, who was 17 at the time of the offending and cannot be named as he is being dealt with in the Youth Court.
Shewry began texting the victim, sending multiple messages asking for the money that was owed to him, the Crown summary of facts stated.
The victim replied, saying he wasn't in the position to immediately pay the $50, and then left three angry voice messages on Shewry's phone as he was fed up with persistent texts.
Shewry, Fletcher and the other male continued to drink and as they discussed the unpaid money between them, they became angry.
The trio made their way to the victim's address, arriving about 2.30am. They covered their faces and entered his unlocked ute, taking from it a pack of mince and cheese pies and a diving knife, about 20cm in length.
The trio responsible for the attack appeared in New Plymouth District Court on Thursday. Photo / Tara Shaskey
They then made their way into the victim's caravan where they found him asleep.
The young male grabbed a nearby hockey stick and struck the victim on the shoulder with it, waking him up.
He and Fletcher began a tirade of verbal abuse, while searching the caravan for cash and breaking property in the process.
The young male hit the victim a further four times with the hockey stick, while Fletcher punched the man's head a number of times.
Meanwhile, Shewry remained by the door holding the knife. At one point during the fracas he lobbed a number of the previously located mince and cheese pies at the victim.
The trio continued to demand the money and the victim eventually agreed to transfer all of his money to Shewry's bank account, which totalled $29.
They continued to strike him as he made the transfer and then threatened they would return the following day to "smash up the whole place" if the rest of the money isn't paid by then.
The trio left with the remainder of the pies, and the victim was left injured and with $3280.26 worth of damage to his caravan, as well as damage to his ute which is still being assessed.
In court, Fletcher pleaded guilty to burglary and assault with intent to injure, while Shewry admitted burglary and possession of a knife.
The young male pleaded guilty to burglary, assault with a weapon and wilful damage. He has been referred to the Youth Court for a family group conference and will next appear in court on June 20.
Pre-sentence reports were ordered for Fletcher and Shewry, they were also referred to restorative justice and will return to court on August 29.
