Newstalk ZB
An 81-year-old man whose head was slammed into a brick wall, leaving him unconscious, has given up his 62-year career and his home. He now lives in an isolated cabin with no power due to the impact of the attack. The man has also been left feeling “a bit cheated” by the justice system after his attacker, Jade Alex Bennett, was jailed, but given leave to apply for home detention. “I believe this guy is violent,” the victim, who does not want to be named for fear of retribution, told NZME. “He wanted to kill me. He said that on that day.” The victim was targeted by Bennett, whose partner was begging with a dog outside the Anglesea St Woolworths in Hamilton on November 7, 2024. The victim told NZME that when he walked through the supermarket carpark, he was asked how much money he had on him, and when he replied, “nil”, Bennett followed him to his nearby business. However, Bennett claimed the victim made a comment of a “sexual nature” to his partner, which the victim vehemently refuted. Bennett, 31, could be heard on security camera footage saying, “f**k you, you’re f*****g dead”, before he grabbed the victim’s head and slammed it into a brick wall. Jade Bennett is pictured in CCTV following the victim and threatening him. Photos / Supplied CCTV showed him collapse headfirst through a glass door, which opened on impact, and onto the ground. Bennett then took off, as the victim lay unconscious on the ground for several seconds. He has since abandoned his rural Hamilton home, leaving it in need of $73,000 in remedial work, to move east. There, he lives in an isolated and small cabin with no power or cellphone reception, because of his “genuine safety concerns”. Bennett, 31, has now been sentenced in the Hamilton District Court for assault with intent to injure and threatening to kill, along with separate charges for assaulting his partner. That happened in May last year when he threw a plate at his partner, narrowly missing her, before picking up a door lying on the ground and throwing it at the woman and her dog. ‘It was not a random attack’At the recent hearing, Bennett disputed the extent of the injuries the victim suffered. The summary of facts stated he experienced memory loss, balance and hearing impairment, loss of focus and a concussion. But in his victim impact statement, the businessman claimed he’d suffered a fractured jaw and affected speech. Footage showed Jade Bennett smashing the man's head into the brick wall. Before the attack, he’d undergone an optical procedure that was stitched, bandaged and painful. He said as a result of the attack, his eye had still not healed from the procedure and his face was permanently disfigured. The police prosecutor accepted the man had earlier received a prosthetic eye. However, the prosecutor said it was for Judge Arthur Tompkins to determine what effect, if any, the pre-existing condition had on the extent of the injury. The victim also claimed he suffered memory loss for up to six months, but Bennett’s counsel, Afitu Veatupu, argued it was only three days. Judge Tompkins said the memory loss was fluctuating and uncertain, and it was possible that, after a significant head injury, further losses could appear. He determined that while the precise extent and duration of some of the injuries were “somewhat unclear”, the attack had “a serious and ongoing effect on the victim”. The judge said that despite having read through all of the provided material, he could not find a reason for the attack. Veatupu said his client had reacted to the victim allegedly making a comment of a “sexual nature” to Bennett’s partner when she was begging outside the supermarket. The victim fell to the ground unconscious after the alleged assault. “While it’s no excuse, that is the reason about how it all came about. “It was not a random attack.” Judge Tompkins said there was no reference to that in the written submissions, while Veatupu assured the judge there was. The judge said it was “disappoint...
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