12-year-old suffered significant hearing loss after being hit in the head with grubber at Gloriavale dairy farm, court hears
A 12-year-old boy has experienced significant hearing loss and “inescapable” ringing in his ears since he was hit in the head with a grubber 10 years ago while working at a Gloriavale dairy farm, a court has heard.
Gloriavale man Moses Benjamin was convicted of a charge of injuring with reckless disregard for the safety of others and sentenced to 80 hours’ community work. He was also ordered to pay the victim $5500 emotional harm reparation, by Judge Gerard Lynch in the Greymouth District Court on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old unsuccessfully applied for a discharge without conviction.
Judge Lynch said the effects on the victim were “far-reaching and devastating”, including his dreams of becoming an airforce pilot being shattered as a result of the hearing loss.
The judge said when Benjamin was 22 years old in 2014 he had responsibility for supervising a group of 12 to 13 year olds working on one of the community’s dairy farms.
The victim – who was 12 – was tasked, along with Benjamin and a group of boys, with clearing weeds in one of the dairy paddocks using a grubber tool which had a long handle and flat metal blade.
During a break the victim and another young boy began teasing Benjamin and calling him names, the judge said.
Benjamin became angry and told them to stop. The other boy went back to work, while the victim continued to tease Benjamin.
Benjamin reacted by throwing the grubber tool at the victim, who was about 10m from him. The boy briefly lost consciousness.
When he came to Benjamin apologised and drove him to a farmhouse which had a first aid kit, stopping at a creek to wash the blood from his ear.
The victim suffered bruising and swelling to his right hear and a small cut. He also reported having a ringing sensation and noticeable hearing loss.
When Benjamin was spoken to by police almost 10 years later, he told them he was playing with the boy and the grubber hit the ground and bounced, striking the boy on the side of the head. He denied throwing it in anger.
Judge Lynch said the victim’s impact statement stated the offending had caused physical, emotional, mental and social impacts for the past 10 years.
“The victim states that the hearing in his right ear was significantly damaged which has been confirmed a number of times following tests. The victim describes the emotional effect of the constant ringing in his ears as simply inescapable and all encompassing,” Judge Lynch said.
The boy always wanted to join the armed forces and become a pilot but that opportunity was no longer available to him.
“When he told Mr Benjamin about that some time in 2020 that he was unable to pursue this dream because of him Mr Benjamin was at first dismissive and verbally abusive,” the judge said.
He said Benjamin apologised to the victim at a restorative justice conference and offered to pay him $5500 which he had earned away from Gloriavale so the community could avoid meeting that expense.
He was also willing to attend an anger management course.
However, there had been “unfathomable dilly dallying” by only entering a guilty plea on the morning of a trial.
Defence lawyer Douglas Brown submitted the hearing issue was genetic and there were no long-term consequences of the offending.
He said Benjamin had never appeared in court before and was unlikely to again.
Affidavits filed by Benjamin, his mother and a colleague Richard Currie said Benjamin was a family man who was caring, considerate, honest and usually calm in the face of aggravation.
Outside court, Brown said an audiologist’s report found the hearing loss was most likely genetic and could be treated. Benjamin had offered to pay the emotional harm reparation which would cover cost of the treatment.