Dunedin District Court. PHOTO: ODT FILES An ‘‘out of control’’ Dunedin man was livestreaming when he assaulted an off-duty police officer in the Octagon, a court has heard. Daniel James Rogers, 38, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after earlier pleading guilty to assault and disorderly behaviour. The court heard that on September 6 the defendant was in the Octagon livestreaming on the platform Kick. He walked over to a security guard at the entrance of Residency Octagon nightclub and captured him on the livestream. He asked Rogers to stop filming him but the defendant refused and began swearing at the guard. A woman, who was an off-duty police officer, saw what was happening and told the defendant to stop videoing and move along, a police summary said. She tried to take his phone from him but when asked to let go of the phone she did and turned to walk away. Rogers then pushed the woman into a door frame causing her to lose consciousness. The defendant went to Woof! bar where he continued verbally abusing people before a police car was flagged down and he was arrested. As a result of the assault, the victim suffered a concussion, a sore tail bone, bruises to her elbows, motion sensitivity and nausea. She was bed-ridden for two weeks, and was unable to drive or go to the gym as a result of the concussion. Yesterday, Judge David Robinson noted Rogers had 17 prior convictions for violence and a number of disorderly behaviour offences. ‘‘It would probably be unkind for me to say that this is a bit of a return to form, but certainly your background really does colour my approach to sentencing,’’ he said. The defendant’s behaviour was ‘‘out of control’’ after he had consumed ‘‘uncharacteristically large’’ amount of alcohol, the judge said. He accepted Rogers regretted the offending and noted he had not racked up any convictions in the last six years. Judge Robinson sentenced the defendant to four months’ community detention (with a curfew of 6pm Friday to 6am Monday), 12 months’ supervision and ordered him to pay $400 emotional harm reparation. felicity.dear@odt.co.nz
