Hone Harawira's son jailed for attacking teen

Court (Getty)
Court (Getty)

The son of former Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira has been jailed for 11 months for repeatedly punching his teenage partner in the face at an ice cream parlour.

42-year-old Hone Harawira Junior was sentenced at the North Shore District Court on Wednesday, after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of male assaults female, and one of wilful trespass.

The incident took place in June, when Harawira and his girlfriend started arguing in a gelato shop because she didn't immediately hand over his cell phone when he demanded it.

Judge Jonathan Down said Harawira became "enraged", pinned his partner to the shop wall and "punched her in the face about half a dozen times".

He also kicked the woman's leg several times, while frisking her for the phone.

In a victim impact statement, the teenager said she had been left scared and humiliated by the attack.

Harawira's lawyer Geoffrey Anderson said his client had an issue with "firing up.. but he is trying to do something about it" and he hadn't tried to mitigate or justify his offending.

Harawira said he'd signed up to a social work course and wanted to use his bad experiences to help other people.

Mr Anderson asked the court to impose a community sentence, but Judge Down said the attack was "a very serious example" of this type of offending.

He also said the age difference between Harawira and his 17-year-old victim meant she was vulnerable.

It was revealed in court that Harawira has more than 20 convictions for what the judge described as "minor violent offending", including wilful damage and public disorder offences dating back to 1993.

He also had more than $15,000 in outstanding fines and 264 hours of community work still to complete.

In sentencing Harawira, Judge Down wiped the outstanding fines and community work and granted him leave to apply for home detention if a suitable address becomes available.

Newshub.