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Jamie Douglas trapped his victim on this bridge on Hikuai Settlement Road before proceeding to punch him several times in the face, breaking numerous bones.
A Coromandel businessman chased down and violently assaulted another man, in retaliation for allegedly slashing the tyres of one of his vehicles.
But the face-smashing punishment levelled by Jamie Troy Douglas on a one-lane bridge on the road to Pauanui landed him in court on charges of wounding with intent to injure, dangerous driving and wilful damage.
Douglas, 34, of Tairua, was sentenced to six months of community detention, 12 months of supervision and 200 hours of community work when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court last week, after earlier pleading guilty to those charges.
The incident that led to those charges happened on the night of November 6 last year. Douglas and an associate had been at the Pauanui Sports Club that night, drinking and watching the Melbourne Cup.
The pair left about 9pm in Douglas' Toyota 4WD.
At some point they came up behind the victim, who was driving a blue ute, on Hikuai Settlement Rd. Douglas began closely tailgating his quarry.
It was near the entrance to Quarry Rd that Douglas sped up and began driving alongside the ute. His associate gave the fingers and yelled abuse at the victim and the victim's friend.
Douglas pulled back in behind the ute and continued to tailgate him. At the top of the hill he overtook the ute and drove down to a one-lane bridge that crossed Duck Creek, near the turnoff to the Lakes Resort.
It was there that he stopped, blocking the road. As his victim pulled in behind him, Douglas and his associate alighted from the Toyota and strode up to the ute.
Douglas opened the driver's door and grabbed the victim by the scruff of his shirt.
"Scrap's on," he told him.
However, the victim remained in his seat in the ute as Douglas began levelling accusations against him. The victim's friend spoke up, telling Douglas to leave him alone - and this prompted Douglas to make a grab for him too.
Suddenly, Douglas punched the victim in the face, and then punched him again as his friend tried to shield him from the attack. Several more blows were landed, however.
"Lets go, lets get out of here," Douglas' associate yelled.
CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF
Jamie Douglas was sentenced to six months of community detention, 12 months of supervision and 200 hours of community work when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court last week.
As they hopped back into the Toyota, Douglas had a parting word of advice to the victim: "You better not go to the pigs".
As if to emphasise his point, he reversed back into the ute before taking off.
The victim suffered serious injuries in the assault and had to undergo reconstructive surgery. Numerous bones were shattered around his nose and eye socket area and he had an air bubble trapped behind his eye.
When spoken to by the police, Douglas admitted his wrongdoing, but declined to make a formal statement or take part in an interview. He told the police the incident stemmed from earlier events, when the victim had allegedly slashed his tyres.
A large contingent of supporters came to Douglas' sentencing, filling about half of the public gallery in the courtroom.
Defence counsel Charles Bean hailed "an extremely positive" pre-sentence report and said Douglas had made numerous changes since the night of the assault.
He urged Judge Simon Menzies to step back from sentences of imprisonment or home detention, and instead opt for community detention, which would allow Douglas to retain his job.
Douglas was "a respected and very much integral part of his community" who employed others and provided a vital service to residents in the area, Bean said.
After some deliberation, Judge Menzies acceded to the lawyer's argument and opted for community detention. He also ordered Douglas to pay his victim $1500 in emotional harm reparation and $426 in reparation to repair damage to a bull bar on the victim's ute.
He also disqualified him from driving for six months.
The charge of wounding with intent to injure comes with a maximum penalty of three years in jail.
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