Two bar workers involved in a scrap with a patron who groped a woman have been ordered to pay their victim $1500. Gaurav Chopra, 25, and Jagdeep Singh, 34, appeared in the Dunedin District Court on Friday after earlier admitting a charge of disorderly behaviour. Judge David Robinson earlier heard both defendants’ applications to be discharged without conviction. On Friday, he ruled that only Singh should avoid a black mark on his record, while Chopra was convicted of the offence. The three-year court process stemmed from events on May 26, 2023 at the Stadium Tavern bar in Alexandra. The victim, a regular customer, who the defendants said had caused trouble in the past, grabbed a woman’s bottom. Chopra, who was a chef, Singh, who was the bar manager and Kuljinder Singh Sidhu, who was the general manager, removed the man from the bar and began walking him to his nearby home. While the group walked, a scuffle broke out and the patron ended up on the ground. Chopra and Singh were involved in the tussle, exchanging pushes and punches. The victim managed to get up, but Sidhu punched him in the face, causing him to fall again and resulting in serious injuries. The staff got the man home and emergency services were called. The victim suffered a broken eye socket and during surgery a piece of bone had to be removed from his sinuses as it had broken off and caused an infection. The man also had a chipped tooth, swelling to his eye, a punctured eyelid and gravel embedded in his eye. In April, Sidhu was sentenced to six months’ home detention and 100 hours’ community work after pleading guilty to injuring with reckless disregard. The court heard the victim was also prosecuted for groping the woman. Judge Robinson said Chopra and Singh were in a different situation to Sidhu. “Despite the serious injuries sustained by the victim, I cannot lose sight of the fact that both Mr Chopra and Mr Singh have pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly behaviour, carrying a maximum penalty of three months’ imprisonment,” he said in his decision. “The Crown does not allege that they bear any culpability for the injuries sustained by the victim.” Both defendants raised deportation liability in their arguments not to be convicted. That was not enough for Chopra, the judge said. “He cannot point to the broader consequences of conviction, beyond his own interests,” the judge said. He said the matter should not be concealed from Immigration New Zealand so they could deal with it appropriately. He also noted Chopra had a previous conviction for careless driving causing injury. “Scrutiny of the defendant’s status of the kind that would arise on conviction is appropriate given that he has now been involved in the two matters across a relatively short timeframe,” the judge ruled. He convicted Chopra and ordered him to pay $750 emotional harm reparation to the victim and court costs of $148. Singh, on the other hand, had proved the consequences of a conviction outweighed the gravity of the offence, Judge Robinson ruled. For Singh, Judge Robinson highlighted the potential impact on the defendant’s partner and unborn child. “Both are blameless. “Their continued right to remain in New Zealand is contingent upon Mr Singh’s immigration status,” the judge said. “The exposure of the defendant (and by extension his family) to a deportation liability process is, in my view, a significant consequence.” Singh had previously appeared before a justice of the peace for a speeding infringement, but had no prior convictions. Judge Robinson discharged Singh without conviction on the condition he pay $750 emotional harm reparation and court costs of $148. felicity.dear@odt.co.nz
