A former All Black who admitted a child assault charge was told by a judge today that police in this country received calls about family violence every six minutes.
The former player was to be sentenced this morning for a single charge of assaulting a child.
The charge relates to an incident in their family home in September last year when the former player assaulted his son with a belt across the shoulders and legs because the boy had been fighting with his sister.
However, the sentencing was adjourned today until March 9 so it could be heard before the judge, who, in an earlier appearance where the man pleaded guilty, indicated a discharge without conviction if he completed an anger management course, which he has done.
Judge Lex de Jong said police were told of similar family violence cases on an average of every six minutes. A concerning aspect of the case was the boy was under 14 years old, he said.
The former player cannot be named because doing so would identify his son, who has permanent name suppression.
- Andrew Koubaridis of the NZ Herald
