Three other men, one of them the victim of the first ear-biting, are already serving prison terms for their retaliatory attack, two days after the initial incident.
Judge Michael Crosbie told 24-year-old Lance Preston Barbarich in the Dunedin District Court yesterday that, if his sentencing served any purpose, it should be as "a loud and clear reminder" that people could not take the law into their own hands and that, even in cases where a victim had himself been seriously injured, that would not excuse him or others retaliating.
Barbarich had admitted injuring 24-year-old Dylan James Hancock with intent to injure him on June 30 last year. On that charge, he was sentenced to three years and three months' jail, with concurrent lesser sentences for unrelated offending.
Barbarich attacked Hancock during an argument while they and others were drinking at Hancock's place about 6pm on June 30. A fight developed that spilled out to the road then back to the grass verge. Barbarich used his weight to pin Hancock down and grabbed his upper body in a bear hug as he bit Hancock's ear. He then yanked his head back, tearing off the top part of the ear before getting off the victim and walking away.
Hancock was taken to hospital, his ear bleeding profusely.
The severed piece was not re-attached and a sizeable portion of the ear was now missing, resulting in permanent disfigurement.
Two days after that attack, Hancock, his father and another young man drove to Fawcett St to exact revenge on Barbarich. He was in a car, which his girlfriend was backing out of a driveway, and the three assailants deliberately rammed the side of a car before getting out and attacking it, with a sledgehammer, sticks and a log splitter. A knife was also used.
The young woman was removed from the car and the three men repeatedly struck Barbarich about the head. He was trapped in the car and was unable to avoid the blows. While there was some dispute about the nature and extent of his injuries, they were not life-threatening. But they were serious and included a fractured skull and one of his ears being almost severed.
That attack resulted in charges against Dylan Hancock, his father Kevin Allan Hancock (46), concrete worker, and 21-year-old Gavin Manu Howie, painter.
Kevin Hancock, the first of the trio to plead, was last September sentenced to seven and a-half years' jail, later reduced on appeal to six years and nine months, for intentionally causing grievous bodily harm to Barbarich, with a concurrent term of two years for recklessly damaging Barbarich's car. He was also given a "three strikes" warning.
Judge Stephen O'Driscoll who sentenced him said the pre-meditation of the attack was an aggravating factor, as were the prolonged nature of the incident, the extreme violence, the involvement of multiple attackers, the use of weapons and the targeting of Barbarich's head, Gavin Howie was last December sentenced to two years' jail for assaulting Barbarich with intent to injure him and intentionally damaging his car.
The sentence was challenged earlier this year but the appeal was dismissed on the basis the term was not excessive and was in line with an earlier sentence indication from the sentencing judge.
Dylan Hancock, who was sentenced last month, was given three years and 11 months' jail for injuring Barbarich with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, with concurrent terms of two years for intentionally damaging Barbarich's car and one month for having 18 cannabis joints in his prison cell while he was on remand.
At yesterday's sentencing of Barbarich for his attack on Dylan Hancock, Crown counsel Richard Smith said the young man had "an unenviable record" of offending, and a sentence of about three to three and a-half years would be appropriate.
Counsel Bernadette Farnan said the entire incident, especially the brutal beating to which he was subjected, had brought home to Barbarich the consequences of violence.
Judge Crosbie said the injury Barbarich caused to Dylan Hancock was a serious and singular event and had resulted in three other men - because of what Barbarich had done to one of them - retaliating, with the consequence that four people were now, or were about to be, serving jail terms. It was obvious he and Dylan Hancock had been drinking and things got out of hand.
"But this deteriorated to much more than that and your actions were extreme and unacceptable."
There was a need to say to Barbarich "enough is enough".
Despite his age, he had been assessed by a psychologist as a violent man, with 11 previous convictions for violence. Deterrence was needed to the point that incarceration was required to protect the public.
Why Barbarich behaved as he did was unclear but the psychological report said that from a young age he started not just drinking but consistently abusing alcohol and that was a feature of the offending. He would go into town to get drunk and look for a fight and enjoyed the reputation he gained from that.
It was a troubling concept, Judge Crosbie said and if he continued in that way, Barbarich would eventually be labelled a murderer. He was regarded as high-risk, with violent propensities, alcohol abuse, a belief system supporting violence, and relationship difficulties.
As well as the 39-month jail term for injuring Dylan Hancock, Barbarich was given concurrent sentences ranging from one month to one year on charges of theft, obtaining by deception, breaching release conditions and community work, disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest.
His unpaid fines were remitted and he was ordered to pay reparation of $1550, as requested.
