Wheel rim severely injured constable, court told

A steel wheel rim launched at a Tauranga policewoman hit her with such force that it cracked a bone inside her skull, causing a large fracture behind her eye sockets, the High Court at Hamilton was told.

Constable Deborah Jay, a mother of three young children, had only 10 months' police experience at the time of the attack.

She was part of Tauranga city's team policing unit which was involved in a stand-off with partygoers after officers broke up a 21st birthday party at Welcome Bay on January 8.

Ms Jay also received a broken nose and collar bone and two broken teeth. She was in Tauranga Hospital for five days, two of them in intensive care.

"After that I was bed-ridden for about five days," Ms Jay told the court.

"I suffered severe headaches and fatigue for a couple of months after the incident."

She has returned to work full-time but cannot return to frontline duties until her collar bone heals.

She also needs another operation to rebreak and set her nose, the court was told yesterday.

The Crown alleges Stacey Roamana Pakaru threw the almost 6.5kg metal rim "discus style" intentionally at the constable.

Pakaru denies a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Dr Luke Phang, the orthopaedics registrar who first attended to Ms Jay at Tauranga Hospital, said her injuries were consistent with being hit by a "heavy big object with a high force".

Pakaru's lawyer, Tony Balme, said Pakaru also received injuries during his arrest that night.

Constable Wayne Lambert said he gave Pakaru a "short end jab" in the stomach with his baton, struck him in the legs with "more than one blow" and pepper-sprayed him because he was "violently resistant" to arrest.

- NZPA