A high-profile public servant accused of assaulting his teenage son is a "gentle fellow", Wellington District Court was told today.
The man, whose name and occupation are suppressed, has pleaded not guilty to one charge of assault on a family member over the incident, in central Wellington in August 2008.
The crown's case rests on the boy's initial testimony that his father dragged him down Manners Mall then pushed him into his car where he repeatedly punched him in the head, because he stole $700 from his mother.
But the boy later retracted his comments.
"If there was any contact at all it was all unintentional," he told the court via video link on Tuesday.
During cross examination of the defendant today, crown prosecutor Paul Dacre cited the boy's initial statement in which he said his father had threatened to break his legs, and had punched him before and after pushing him into the car.
He also reminded the jury of three witnesses' saying that they had seen the man punching the boy in the car.
"You hit him as punishment for taking the money. You said he was a thief and you were treating him like a thief," he told the court.
But the man said the witnesses must have mistaken his removing the boy's bag -- bought with the stolen money along with a new cellphone -- for punching.
The man had taken two weeks off work in order to spend time with his son, who was on holiday from boarding school, and help him catch up on homework.
"I was determined over that two weeks that I was going to help him to get through all of his work," he said.
Appearing as a witness, the boy's mother said one teacher had said her son was "the most disorganised person they had ever met" and that the man had never threatened, let alone punched his son.
"He (the son) might have considered it threatening doing two weeks' work.
"(My husband is) the calming influence in our family. When he looks stern you know he means business, but he's a gentle fellow."
The boy, diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after making the complaint, is still living with his parents and seeing a psychiatrist.
