Josiah Miakara Kawana, 28, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after admitting the tumultuous string of events from October last year.
Judge Emma Smith said the errant behaviour was particularly surprising given the defendant previously had only one conviction for wilful damage to his name.
‘‘You have no real footprint of criminality or violence,’’ she said.
‘‘But you behaved in an extraordinarily violent way.’’
The court heard Kawana was drunk in the bus hub and spotted by security staff while he harassed members of the public.
The defendant then boarded a bus, ‘‘poked’’ the driver and asked for a fight.
According to a police summary, Kawana grabbed the man by the shirt and dragged him off the bus.
He then turned his attention to a bystander, punching him in the head repeatedly before police from the nearby central station became involved.
Kawana’s belligerent behaviour then only spiralled further out of control.
He refused to comply with police instructions and failed to place his arms by his sides.
It continued after the short trip to the station. Kawana had to be carried into a cell, during which he bit an officer on the leg.
‘‘I’ve seen the photos and it was a serious injury,’’ the judge said.
Once in the cell, the defendant performed an indecent act in front of a female officer.
‘‘He also yelled lewd and inappropriate sexual slurs of what he wanted her to do to him,’’ court documents state.
Judge Smith said there were indications Kawana was struggling with alcohol and substance use but the man confirmed he was willing to address that.
Without a viable address at which to serve a sentence, counsel Deborah Henderson accepted the only possible penalty was imprisonment.
While the judge duly imposed the jail term, Kawana — who was convicted of assault with intent to obstruct, assault, resisting police, disorderly behaviour and doing an indecent act — was given leave to apply to have it converted to home detention should he manage to secure appropriate accommodation.
