An ongoing family feud spilt out into the public arena as a son attacked his mother’s car with a baseball bat while she was stopped at an intersection.

Shane Michael Morrison approached the vehicle in his ute before cutting off his mum in a left-hand turning lane, near the intersection of Poutini St and Eastown Rd, Whanganui, about 9am on October 15 last year.

Morrison got out of his ute and grabbed a baseball bat from the back before walking over to where his mother sat in her car and used the weapon to hit the bonnet and windscreen.

The 27-year-old then raised the bat and pointed it at his mum while yelling at her to leave his kids alone, the Whanganui District Court heard on Thursday.

His mother believed he was threatening he would hit her with the bat, the police summary of facts detailed.

Morrison and his mother then both made their way to the police station to report the attack.

Initially, the father lied to police, claiming the attack happened at his former partner’s house, an address his mother is trespassed from, and stating he was acting in self-defence.

However, Morrison eventually told officers the truth, admitting he was angry and struck the victim’s car twice with the bat as well as acknowledging he intentionally lied about the location, hoping to get his mum in trouble for trespassing.

He appeared before Judge Justin Marinovich for sentencing on charges of perverting the course of justice, which carried a maximum penalty of seven years’ jail, assault with a weapon, wilful damage and possession of an offensive weapon.

Crown prosecutor Isabelle Barfucci said Morrison should be commended for his rehabilitation efforts and asked the charge of possession of a weapon be dismissed, which the judge granted.

Defence lawyer Stephanie Burlace said the victim was in no real danger and sought a discount on his sentence for provocation.

“There’s a lot of background which provoked him to take matters into his own hands,” Burlace said.

Morrison had tried multiple times to get the help needed but wasn’t able to access it and his offending was a result of his frustration, she submitted.

He had shown remorse, engaged in rehabilitation programmes and there were further initiatives he wanted to do.

Judge Marinovich said there had been ongoing family violence issues between the pair prior to the attack. The summary of facts detailed there had been six previously reported episodes between them.

A cultural background report gave some insight into the family dynamic when Morrison was growing up but the issues didn’t need to be fully addressed in open court, the judge said.

“There were issues within the family that would have been upsetting and frightening for a young child,” he said.

Judge Marinovich explained the courts took a dim view of anyone attempting to pervert the course of justice as it “strikes at the heart of the justice system”.

Aggravating features included Morrison having been sentenced on a previous charge of assaulting someone in a family relationship four days before the attack, the impact it had on his mother and its public nature.

“This was done in broad daylight and in full view of any member of the public that came upon it.”

Discounts were given for Morrison’s personal circumstances, his engagement in rehabilitation programmes, remorse, guilty pleas and a slight deduction for provocation before Judge Marinovich arrived at a sentence of nine months’ imprisonment.

The judge then converted the sentence to five months’ home detention, due to the efforts Morrison had gone through trying to better himself, before reducing it to four months to reflect the time he had spent in custody.

Leighton Keith joined NZME as an Open Justice reporter based in Whanganui in 2022. He’s been a journalist for 20 years covering a variety of topics and rounds.