No jail for assaulting lone officer | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

A man who assaulted a lone police officer by swinging a metal chain and encouraging a group of others to "smash" him has been told by a Rotorua judge he needs to "hang his head in shame".

But Tapuhi Trident Rolleston wasn't jailed for his offending - a decision that has been questioned as police battle rising assaults against their officers.

The case has sparked calls from the Rotorua Police Association for the community to say no to such abuse against police officers which for officers working alone in remote areas is a fact of life.

Rolleston, 24, previously pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault, possession of an offensive weapon - a chain - and inciting violence. He appeared in the Rotorua District Court for sentencing.

Judge Chris McGuire described Rolleston's actions as "disgraceful" and sentenced him to six months' community detention and nine months' intensive supervision.

Rolleston and a group of associates were in a Murupara alleyway on May 22 when a lone policeman chased a small group after an attempted burglary at a nearby shop.

As the police officer spoke with a witness he heard a group of people coming down the alleyway saying out loud "Piggy, piggy, we are going to ... you up".

When the group got closer, the officer made himself visible to the group, who were initially shocked and ran away.

One of them fell over and was arrested by the constable.

Rolleston stopped and walked back towards the officer screaming out "rush him boys he's by himself" to his friends.

As Rolleston got near the policeman, he said he would smash him if he didn't let his "bro" go.

When the policeman tried to back away, Rolleston pulled a metal chain from his pocket while another person picked up an empty beer bottle.

Telling his group their number was under arrest, Rolleston carried on inciting the others to "rush at" and "smash" the officer if he didn't let their friend go.

Forcing the officer and his prisoner up against a wall, five of the group surrounded him as Rolleston opened his hand, allowing the chain to fall and dangle from his hand.

Swinging the chain in a circular motion, Rolleston told his friends to beat up the officer. The stand-off continued for a few minutes with abuse and threats of violence shouted at the policeman until a local resident told the group to back off, the court heard.

Rolleston's lawyer, Wiremu Te Are, asked the court to step back from jail and consider a lengthy term of supervision as the offending was the result of a "gut full of grog and bravado".

Judge McGuire said it was a "disgraceful" attack and warned Rolleston he would be going to jail if he offended again.

"You should hang your head in shame," the judge said.

Rotorua Police Association chairman Scott Thompson said unless New Zealanders were prepared to pay more in taxes for more police, there would be officers working alone in areas such as Murupara. He said staffing numbers didn't allow management to allocate two manned police vehicles to towns of that size.

He said there were provisions for harsher penalties for those who assaulted police but ultimately judges had their reasons for making their decisions.

"But I'm surprised [Rolleston] didn't go to jail. It doesn't seem a big deterrent does it?

"There seems to be this mindset that this is an acceptable thing to do, but it's not ... The fact that someone is walking around with a chain and is prepared to use it is pretty evil."

Rotorua police area commander Inspector Bruce Horne said it was common practice for only one police officer to be on call in small rural towns. The on-call officer provided an immediate response to any emergency and assessed how a situation might best be resolved and what additional resources, if any, could be required.

Murupara staff had support from police in Rotorua at all times.