Chch man escapes jail for assaulting son

A Christchurch musician escaped jail today for punching his four-year-son in a case which a judge and police said was never a test case for the child smacking laws.

• Sentencing clarifies anti-smacking limits - police [2]

James Mason, 49, was sentenced to nine months supervision and ordered to undergo anger management courses after earlier being found guilty of assaulting his son, the Christchurch Court News website reported.

"This is not a case that would have been dealt with any differently prior to the legislation being changed," said Christchurch District Court Judge Michael Crosbie at Mason's sentencing.

Christchurch police central area commander Inspector Derek Erasmus was just as blunt.

"This was not a test case. It was simply a case of a child being punched in the face and the police taking appropriate action."

Mason was found guilty of pulling his four-year-old son's ear and punching him in the face. He was acquitted of two other charges of assault in respect of the four-year-old and another son.

The case was widely seen as a test of the anti-smacking laws because Mason publicly claimed that he had done no more than administer a flick on the ear.

Outside the court today, Mason continued to deny pulling his son's ear.

He described a policewoman's evidence as "a pile of crap".

Defence counsel Elizabeth Bulger said it was impossible to say from the verdict whether the jury accepted the ear-pulling or punching had been proved, because the charge referred to both.

The offending had occurred in difficult circumstances, and Mason had no previous convictions. She sought a discharge without conviction for him.

Crown prosecutor Deirdre Elsmore said the eye-witness evidence had been clear and compelling. A discharge without conviction might have been appropriate for ear-pulling, but would not be appropriate for the punching of the child.

She did not accept Mason's claim that the conviction and publicity might affect his employment -- he had courted the publicity.

Judge Crosbie said the case was described by the crown as an inappropriate response in a stressful parenting situation.

The children had gone down a ramp on a bridge on their bikes and one had fallen and hurt his head. They were then scolded and one of them was assaulted by Mason, the jury found.

"It remains a case of an assault on a child, as it would have prior to the legislation being enacted," the judge told Mason.

"You don't accept the facts but you do say that in hindsight you should have been able to manage the situation in a calmer manner and not reacted in the way you described."

He said a discharge without conviction was not appropriate.

"It is clear the jury found there was a punch and you admitted as much to the police."