Man in custody for alleged Tāhuna campground rampage

A man accused of running riot at the Tāhuna Beach Holiday Park, including that he smashed his car into a cabin and allegedly pulled a cyclist from her bike and stomped on her head, has been remanded in custody for mental health screening to determine his level of sanity.

The 40-year-old appeared briefly in the Nelson District Court last Friday, charged with threatening to kill, assault with intent to injure, resisting police, assaulting police, wilful damage, and intentional damage.

He was remanded to appear again on Monday, which he did via video link from a custody cell. He was remanded back in custody without plea for a mental health assessment and was also granted interim name suppression.

He could be seen signalling and smiling to his partner and a friend seated in the public gallery in court.

The police summary of facts alleges that on February 1 just after 11am, the man was at a cabin at the Tāhuna Beach Holiday Park.

He became angry and started yelling and screaming, then walked to his car parked outside the cabin. He allegedly accelerated forward and drove into the cabin, destroying the front wall. He then got out of the car and continued to yell and scream, police allege.

When he noticed a woman looking at him it was alleged that he held his fists above his head and yelled at a woman that he was “going to kill her”.

A man who drove up to help was then allegedly punched in the face between five and 10 times by the man, who yelled “f**k the police”, and then followed the victim as he tried to get away. At the same time, a woman was riding her bike through the campground and was allegedly grabbed by the man who pulled her to the ground and then allegedly kicked her in the head as she lay tangled in her bicycle.

Police said the victim curled herself into a foetal position to try and protect herself as the man allegedly “stomped on her head” twice more.

She was left with a deep cut to her right ear plus wounds to both arms and was treated by ambulance staff called to the scene. The man who’d been punched in the face saw what was happening, drove his car towards the defendant in the hope of distracting him.

When the accused saw the man approaching he ran at the vehicle, jumped on the bonnet and allegedly smashed the windscreen with his knee.

The police arrived and as the man was being arrested and placed in handcuffs he turned around and allegedly punched the arresting constable in the face. As he was placed in the police van, the man kicked out and tried to escape.

Judge Richard Russell said that given the charges the man faced, the course of action to assess his mental health was “entirely appropriate”.

He said the court did need to drill down to why what was alleged happened.

“The summary of facts does give me considerable cause for concern.”

The man was due to appear again later this month when he was expected to enter a plea to the charges.