A South African student who attacked his sleeping roommate with a baseball bat told a judge on Wednesday that he was surprised to learn he was acting illegally in New Zealand.
Artur Kalauov (19) was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to a charge of assault with intent to injure his roommate at an aviation college near the South Island town of Nelson.
“He didn’t even realise what he had done was a criminal act,” Kalauov’s lawyer John Sandston told the court.
“In his culture they deal with things in a much more robust fashion.”
But Judge Tony Zohrab said he found it hard to accept that even in South Africa, people would find it appropriate to resolve personal differences by hitting someone with a baseball bat.
“You could have killed this guy,” he said. – AFP