4 Jul 2011

Nelson man jailed 5 years for bashing hairdresser

7:02 pm on 4 July 2011

An 18-year-old Nelson man has been jailed for more than five years for bashing a man in a city street and leaving him for dead.

Hairdresser Brent Powell was hit and kicked while walking home along Hardy Street about midnight on 2 October last year.

The 48-year-old was found unconscious on the footpath seven hours later and needed surgery to reconstruct his face.

On Monday, Akuhata Taylor Tihi was jailed for five years and three months for the assault.

Tihi was given an extra 18 months for assaulting a prisoner while on remand.