A Blenheim man who racially abused and assaulted two taxi drivers during a night out in Queenstown has been ordered to pay them compensation, The Press reported.
Temana Kenneth Teremoana Teariki, 26, admitted two charges of common assault and one of speaking threateningly. He appeared for sentencing at the Blenheim District Court on Monday.
According to a police summary of facts, Teariki had been drinking with friends as part of his birthday celebrations on December 13. At about 4.35am the following morning, he was travelling in a taxi when he made several comments about the driver’s ethnicity. He allegedly told the driver he would “beat all Indians,” before threatening to beat and shoot him.
The Press reported that the driver pulled over and refused to continue the journey. Teariki then got out, opened the driver’s door, and punched him several times in the face, causing his nose to bleed. The driver pushed him away, and Teariki and his friends fled.
About ten minutes later, the group entered another taxi, also driven by an Indian man. Teariki told a friend in the back seat that he had punched an Indian Uber driver. When the driver asked him to stop, Teariki became verbally abusive, police said. The driver then stopped the vehicle and asked him to get out. Teariki responded by opening the driver’s door and punching him four to five times in the face, leaving him with a swollen face, before kicking him several times in the hip. Teariki then walked away, but not before a photo was taken of him.
When later spoken to by police, Teariki admitted he knew he should not have behaved as he did but claimed he was drunk. He also alleged that at least one of the drivers had said something offensive, prompting him to retaliate.
His lawyer, Josh Smith, told the court that Teariki worked as a commercial diver across the South and lower North Island. He said his client was due to have knee replacement surgery early next year and would spend nine months recovering in the Coromandel. Smith argued that a sentence of community work could set him up to fail. He added that Teariki was willing to apologise by paying $1000 to each driver and was prepared to attend non-violence and alcohol programmes.
Judge Jo Rielly said Teariki’s behaviour had been entirely unnecessary and described it as nasty. She noted that racially abusing the two men was serious enough, but the assaults made it worse, particularly as the drivers were in vulnerable situations. The judge said she was pleased Teariki was remorseful, adding that his actions should never have happened.
Rielly acknowledged Teariki’s remorse, his success in his line of work, and his early guilty pleas. He was ordered to pay $1000 to each taxi driver and placed under nine months of supervision, with conditions to take part in programmes addressing alcohol misuse and stopping violence.