38 months

The Herald reports:

A nephew of Hone Harawira has been jailed for chasing a boy into his home and beating him in his bedroom before stealing a whale bone necklace.

Mau Harawira – a son of anti-violence campaigner Hinewhare Harawira – was sentenced to three years and two months in jail when he appeared at the Auckland District Court today.

That’s a decent sentence.

The court heard how the 30-year-old had been drinking with a friend at an Auckland beach when the pair believed they had been offended by a 12-year-old playing nearby.

They chased him to his house and went inside, where they knocked him to the ground and kicked him.

They then dragged him onto a balcony and the beating stopped only when a passerby noticed the violence. …

Judge Harvey described Harawira as a “gutless cowardly thug”.

He said the boy was a small 12-year-old while Harawira and his friend were large, drunk men.

All violence is bad, but large men beating up a 12 year old boy is indeed gutless and cowardly.