Wiremu Te Rangi Brailey, 19, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week after earlier pleading guilty to injuring with intent to injure, a charge which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
The defendant had a promising sports career, was an apprentice electrician and successfully argued he should avoid a conviction for the crime.
The court heard that on January 14 last year, the defendant was with his sister when she was informed her boyfriend was seeing another woman.
Brailey and his sister drove to her Putaruru home where the boyfriend was standing outside the front door.
The siblings charged at the man, punching him about his head and body while a neighbour filmed the commotion.
The suspected cheater was pushed against a wooden fence before he fell to the ground and the duo continued the assault.
The woman punched her boyfriend eight more times and Brailey stomped on his head six times as he lay on the ground.
Brailey’s sister put out her arm to stop him from continuing, but he grabbed the man by his shirt and kicked him in the face.
The victim suffered a cut to his head which had to be glued, as well as swelling to his face and neck.
Brailey admitted to police he had ‘‘gone overboard’’ and regretted his actions.
This week, the court heard that since the incident, Brailey had volunteered at a marae and completed 10 sessions of a stopping-violence programme.
Judge Hermann Retzlaff congratulated the defendant on the work he had done since the offending and noted police did not oppose the application to avoid a conviction.
‘‘There’s some context to this offending in that your sister had been wronged by this victim; the victim himself acknowledges that,’’ the judge said.
He highlighted Brailey’s employment as an apprentice electrician and his ‘‘high prospects’’ in sport.
The defendant had no previous convictions and the victim had accepted his apology at a restorative justice meeting, Judge Retzlaff said.
‘‘The episode of defending your sister . . . need not be marked with a conviction, so you can move on to the future now and away from this,’’ the judge said.
Judge Retzlaff considered the consequences of a conviction were outweighed the gravity of the offending and granted Brailey the discharge.
Brailey was selected for the Highlanders under-20 squad in 2025 and plays as a winger for the Harbour Hawks rugby club.
His sister was given police diversion for her part in the offending, a scheme which allows predominantly young or first-time offenders to make amends for their crimes and avoid a mark on their criminal record.
