A homeless man, who made headlines for living in a cave in Mount Maunganui, has been sentenced after attacking a puppy.

Gerald Awhito October, 65, was charged in September last year after being seen kicking and throwing his puppy in public.

The attack occurred during the alert level 4 lockdown and was witnessed by a teenager and a courier driver.

He was sentenced to 50 hours of community service at the Tauranga District Court yesterday, but a judge decided against making an order to stop him owning dogs in future.

October, or "Awhi'" as he is known to many Mount Maunganui residents, was living in a cave with his dog at the Hopukiore/Mount Drury Reserve at the time of the offending. The reserve neighbours some of the city's most expensive properties.

During his time in the cave, October made international headlines in the Daily Mail, The Sun and The Mirror after nearby residents raised concerns about anti-social behaviour, calling for him to be removed. Tauranga City Council received eight complaints about the man.

The court heard members of the public witnessed Awhi kicking his puppy against a rock on September 4 last year.

A charge of ill-treatment of an animal was laid by police, eventually proven after a District Court trial in May which heard evidence from a courier driver and teenager who witnessed the violence.

The teen told that court she heard the dog "yelping and screaming" as it was kicked against the stone. The courier driver said October later picked up the dog by the scruff of the neck and threw it a distance of about a metre.

The defence's case rested on the claim that October was using reasonable force to prevent the dog from running onto the road.

October had been living in a cave at Mt Drury reserve, next to some of the city's most expensive properties. Photo / NZME

At sentencing before Tauranga District Court judge Bill Lawson yesterday, police applied for an order under the Dog Control Act preventing October from owning dogs in future.

But October's lawyer Sebastian Hartley submitted that as a homeless man, the companionship his client had from animals was too significant to lose.

"To deprive Mr October of animal companionship would be to remove one of his constant sources of companionship and support," Hartley said.

"There is no history of similar offending here."

Judge Lawson ultimately declined to make the order.

"Whilst this may have been a misguided attempt to discipline the animal or keep it away from the road, what you did to the dog was entirely inappropriate."

"You were homeless at the time and you are once again homeless. I am told the dog was part of a companionship arrangement for you."

The rough sleeper told the Bay of Plenty Times in an interview last year that he felt a sense of safety living under the maunga - the only place he knew before moving to the region in 2020.

"I went to the only place I knew in this rohe where I felt safe," he said.

He was eventually placed in a transitional housing unit but the court heard yesterday he was homeless again.

- Ethan Griffiths, Open Justice