From the Nelson Mail:

Racial attack jail sentence ‘too light’
Wednesday, 2 May 2007
COLIN SMITH

Two men who bashed three Korean students in a racially motivated attack in Nelson have not been jailed for long enough, says a headmaster.

Painter Harry Shannon Dennis McCormack, 28, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment on Tuesday for the unprovoked March 17 attack on the Nelson College students.

Labourer Daniel Bryan Kitto, 20, was jailed for eight months. Both men appeared in the Nelson District Court yesterday.

“This was an appalling racially based episode of violence and it is the type of violence which brings you, your community and indeed your whole country into disrepute,” Judge David McKegg told the Nelson men, who were said to have white supremacist views.

The pair were ordered to do counselling and granted leave to apply for home detention, which Judge McKegg said he could not decline to give.

Nelson College headmaster Gary O’Shea said on Wednesday he was disappointed with the leniency of the sentences for the “vicious” and “cold-blooded” attack on the international students.

“It isn’t just an assault, it is a racially motivated hate crime,” he said.

“I think given the unprovoked, premeditated nature of the assault to the head of someone, 12 months to me is really not adequate.

“Is it a strong enough message? I don’t think so.”

Judge McKegg gave McCormack and Kitto credit for each admitting a charge of assault with intent to injure and two counts of assault.

“You, McCormack, stated openly that you did not like Asian people and you decided to stop your car because you wanted to hurt them,” said the judge.

Before the attack the two men had racially taunted and abused the three students when they saw them at Buxton Square.

The students, one of whom was 15 and the other two 17, were sitting outside the Night Owl store on Waimea Rd when Kitto and McCormack came upon them again.

McCormack kicked the 15-year-old in the face and punched one of the other students, while Kitto punched the third.

Crown prosecutor Glen Marshall told the court the 15-year-old’s parents had selected Nelson as a safe place for him to study and live, but the “cowardly” attack had left them reconsidering that.

“The situation is now that they are very concerned and want him to move to another town where there is less violence,” Mr Marshall said.

Judge McKegg also said the parents of the three students now had serious concerns about Nelson as a fit place for their children to be educated, “and who can blame them?”

But Mr O’Shea told the Nelson Mail that he had spoken with the students’ parents and met the mother of one boy when she visited at Easter.

“They accept it is something that could happen anywhere and it isn’t part of the culture of Nelson or New Zealand.”

Mr O’Shea said the students were not traumatised by the attack, and had put it behind them and settled back into their studies.

Nelson Multi Ethnic Council coordinator Claire Nichols said that despite a lot of media attention over the attack, she did not think Nelson had a particular problem with racially motivated offences.

However, the community needed to show such behaviour would not be tolerated.

Ms Nichols said she would have liked the men to receive harsher sentences, sending a stronger message to the community.

Both McCormack and Kitto’s lawyers told the court the attack was out of character for the men, that it was spontaneous after a chance encounter, and that they wanted to address anger and substance abuse issues.

McCormack’s lawyer, Tony Bamford, said the assaults happened after McCormack became frustrated while arguing with his partner in the car.

“Rather than take it out on his partner he took it out on three innocent members of the public,” Mr Bamford said.

McCormack and Kitto had written letters of apology to the victims, but Judge McKegg said “only time will tell whether in fact you have turned the coin over and now see things differently”.