Roadside attacker ‘went nuts’ — judge
A judge said a 46-year-old Parklands man went “nuts” when he bashed unconscious a man who had stumbled into the vehicle he was driving.
The attack stopped when a friend of the victim hit Gilbert Leslie McClure with a walking stick.
McClure pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court to a charge of assault over the January 22 incident on Avonhead Road.
His defence counsel, Phillip Allan, cited work stress as a factor in the incident because McClure – a truck driver – had been managing the business while the owner was away.
Judge Tim Black told McClure: “I hope you have learned to recognise when things are getting out of control so that you can do something about it before something like this happens and you go nuts, because that’s what’s happened here.”
Police prosecutor Sergeant Jeff Kay said the victim had been drinking at a friend’s house and went for a walk to get some fresh air and clear his head.
McClure pulled up in a work vehicle and the victim stumbled into it before walking off. McClure checked for damage and found that a mirror had been knocked in, but there was no damage.
He then saw the victim standing in a driveway and pulled up the driveway. The victim fell over avoiding the vehicle, and there was then a scuffle when he got up. McClure knocked him down again and punched him in the head several times until he was unconscious. A friend of the victim then intervened and struck McClure with a walking stick, stopping the assault.
The victim had bruises, cuts, and scratches. McClure told police the victim had hit him first and he had gone into a “blind rage”.
Mr Allan said McClure initially wanted to get the man’s details in case there had been some damage which he had not yet seen to the work vehicle, but he had gone far beyond self-defence in the fracas that followed.
He said McClure was now happy being a truck driver and wanted nothing to do with the stresses of management in the future.
Judge Black fined McClure $500 and ordered him to pay $200 in emotional harm reparations to the victim.
Category: News
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