DAMNED THUG ... OH! HE'S A GOOD RUGBY PLAYER? CARRY ON.

 

"BUDDING RUGBY PLAYER"

Is this judge, Jo Reilly in the real world or does she have some secret desire for "budding rugby players"?

Did you read the NZ Herald article above? I know that Robert didn't because:

• He's scared of links.
• He cannot concentrate on any writing that's more than a couple of paragraphs unless it's something from the bible.
• If it doesn't have his name in it he's not interested.
• He prefers articles about angels, mad women 'saints' and the Holy Ghost.

In case you didn't or, hell, even if you did here's a precis of the article.

• A budding young rugby player will be off the field for the next three months, shackled by an electronic bracelet unlikely to withstand the ruck and maul of the sports field.

I dislike the language used here. It suggests adulation for rugby over law and order.

• Thomas Rohi Smith has been sentenced to three months’ community detention for an assault on a man in Nelson who was now too afraid to come back into town.

• Judge Jo Rielly said it was a shame Smith would not be able to play rugby while serving his sentence, but the interests of justice came first.

• Smith earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of assault with intent to injure, after the assault late last year, and unlawfully carrying an imitation firearm he was seen waving from the window of a car in which he was a passenger.

• Smith had found salvation from a life of dysfunction and crime in his newfound love of sport and in the church, helped by family members who had embraced him, but he slipped up again in December while drinking at a central city bar, the Nelson District Court heard today.

What horseshit and again use of passive language. This scrote 'found salvation' in playing sport eh? It didn't stop the thug from violently beating someone through a 'slip up'. Give me a break.

• The 22-year-old who played B-grade rugby in Nelson was recently deported back to New Zealand from Australia where he had spent the past few years, including time in prison for assault.

So he had a record before this recent assault.

• At about 1.45am on December 17, Smith and the victim, who were not known to each other, were outside a bar in central Nelson.

Several men were suddenly verbally aggressive toward the victim, who was sitting on a nearby concrete seat, when Smith stepped forward and shoved him.

The victim knocked his head on the concrete seat as he fell over then slumped on the footpath, barely conscious.

The confrontation continued, involving more men at that point, which required security staff to intervene.

Smith then moved up behind the victim and punched him twice in the side of the head before dragging him onto the road by his collar, where he punched him again.

Several others joined in on the attack, as the man lay on the ground. He was left with a broken nose, two black eyes, bruises on his body, and a cut on the back of his head.

This is a cowardly assault from a prick who is obviously out of control with anger management problems, but, the judge feels it right to say that home detention was not necessary when Smith was" otherwise doing well, with the support he had".

• His lawyer bamboozled this judge with a statement about how Smith had been making good headway, having recently got a new job, was being guided by extended family who’d been “doing everything to keep him on the straight and narrow”, and with support from the church they were involved with. Yes, the fucking church card being played again.

• “I hope you understand how much you are at a turning point in your life,” Judge Rielly said and then said that  home detention was not necessary when Smith was otherwise 'doing well, with the support he had.'

Fuck!

• Smith was sentenced to nine months of supervision, which included a rehabilitation component and was ordered to pay $400 emotional harm reparation to the victim.

Maybe they ran out of wet bus tickets so couldn't slap him on the wrist with one of those.

We've seen in the past, courts being lenient on criminals because they 'have promising sporting careers' or because their lawyers write grovelling letters for them. See: MEA CULPA  and RISING STAR but where does this leave the victims? In this case it leaves someone who is now afraid to go into town at night.

I bet that we'll be seeing this thug before the courts again in the near future.


I hope that there is a judicial review into this sentencing. It gives the wrong message to violent thugs and makes going out dangerous for innocent people.