A young man described by a victim as "drunk and relentless" beat up three people on a night out, a court has heard.
Hayden Rush (20) appeared in the Invercargill District Court this week on three charges of assault, two of drink-driving and one of failing to stop.
One victim, who was with the man on October 14, said the defendant seemed "quite friendly" at first.
"It was like he was determined to fight," the victim said.
"None of us wanted to get into trouble for punching him back," another said.
The court heard Rush met his three victims on a night out in Kaikoura.
During the early hours of the morning on October 15, they decided to light a campfire and go fishing at the beach.
They walked away from the fire, and although people were still overseeing it, this seemed to aggravate Rush.
The court heard he was angry they had left without extinguishing the fire.
The defendant’s new friends were trying to reason with him, but had no luck.
He punched the first victim in the side of the head.
An acquaintance was concerned about the conflict and walked towards the defendant with a friend.
Rush pushed and shoved the victim, prompting another man to step in.
He punched that man in the back of the head causing him to fall to the ground.
As they walked away from Rush, he punched the last victim a second time.
The police were called and the defendant was arrested.
Judge Jim Large said the man clearly had a drinking problem.
"Apart from alcohol, you seem to be completely law-abiding," he said.
Rush had two convictions for drink-driving, with his breath alcohol-level at 1000mcg on one occasion.
The court heard all of the victims urged Rush to address his issues.
"I hope he changes his ways. Someone will punch him back one day, or he will end up in jail," one said.
Judge Large sentenced Rush to 12 months’ supervision, disqualified him from driving for 28 days and imposed alcohol-interlock provisions.
He also ordered $200 reparation be paid to each victim and fined him $200 for failing to stop.
The judge told Rush: "I hope you’re able to learn from this experience and take advantage of the supervision so you can deal with the alcohol issues that you’ve clearly got".
