Jacob Michael Anaru Mason (19) was before Judge Stephen O'Driscoll in the Dunedin District Court for sentence yesterday for assaulting the young man with a weapon and injuring the young woman by an unlawful act in an incident in McDonald's [Dunedin north] car park on March 9.
Both victims, whose names are suppressed, were badly injured.
The young man lost three teeth, his right eye was impaired for a month and his memory was affected.
The young woman was in pain for 10 hours before having stitches to the inside and outside of her mouth.
She was left with a scar on her face which made her feel very uncomfortable and would be "a lifelong reminder of the incident", Judge O'Driscoll said.
The attack developed from a verbal exchange between Mason who was on the tray of his friends' truck and the male victim.
When the young woman intervened, Mason retrieved a hammer from the back of the truck, flailing it at the young man but striking the young woman in the face.
The young man was also struck several times.
Friends took the young woman inside and, when the male victim saw her injuries, he became enraged and ran out to continue the encounter with Mason.
Security staff intervened and separated the two young men, also disposing of the hammer, which had fallen from Mason's hands.
Crown counsel Louise Denton said while there was a suggestion some provocation was involved, Mason's reaction had been "over the top".
Prison was the only appropriate sentence, given Mason did not consent to community work or home detention.
For the defendant, Helgi Henderson said the situation had not been one where Mason was carrying the hammer and looking for trouble.
Unfortunately, the hammer was on the tray of the truck and the defendant had retrieved it and used it.
Mr Henderson said the situation was unusual in that the Crown accepted Mason had not intended to injure the young woman, reducing the original charge from wounding with intent to injuring by an unlawful act.
Mason did not have an extensive criminal record, was sorry for what he had done, and had pleaded guilty, Mr Henderson said.
The judge told the defendant the ACC bill for the young man was about $16,000 and the victim believed he was fortunate not to have suffered a brain injury.
Aggravating factors were the use of the hammer, the fact Mason attacked the victims' heads and the effects on them of the attack.
Mason was also for sentence on unrelated offences committed on bail.
That was also an aggravating factor, the judge said.
But he took into account that the defendant had not been carrying the hammer and that the injuries to the young woman may not have been intentional.
On the two charges arising from the attack, Mason was sentenced to 17 months' jail, with concurrent terms of two months' for driving while disqualified and obstructing police on April 7.
He was convicted and discharged on an associated offence of careless driving and was disqualified for 12 months on the disqualified driving charge.
His outstanding community work sentence was cancelled as were unpaid fines of $7880.
"I think you may have an anger and alcohol problem," the judge said, making it a condition of Mason's release that he has counselling and treatment to address those particular issues.
