Man jailed for ‘cowardly’ assault

Press, 15 August 1984, Page 4

Man jailed for ‘cowardly’ assault

Nelson reporter Describing the offence as “cowardly” and “disgraceful,” Judge Headifen sentenced Geoffrey Alan Stuart to nine months imprisonment when he appeared for sentence in the District Court at Nelson, yesterday. Stuart, aged 29, a labourer, last week admitted a charge of assaulting Traffic Officer J. J. O’Donovan with intent to injure him. The jail term will be followed by a year’s probation and Stuart was directed, while on probation, to take whatever steps advised to overcome an

alcohol problem. Mr N. P. Moore, for Stuart, said that while the traffic officer was speaking to a group of motor-cyclists who had left their machines on the footpath, the defendant had smashed a handle of beer on the traffic officer’s head. The defendant had suffered a memory loss but others agreed that nothing had taken place while the motor-cycles were being shifted to have made the defendant act the way he did. The traffic officer’s directions were being followed with good grace so that it was not a case of his being set upon by the group.