A “scuffle ensued” and Herman picked a fight, but the other man began to get the better of him.
Herman then reached for a sharp object after finding himself in a headlock and “losing a fight of his own making”.
Details of the altercation in Hastings are contained in a High Court judgment after Herman unsuccessfully appealed against the prison sentence he was handed in the district court.
The stabbing: A gross overreaction
Justice David Boldt said Herman found the unidentified sharp object in the back of his vehicle.
He stabbed his victim twice in the neck, narrowly missing an artery.
The victim then released his grip and Herman fled.
The man required surgery and was left in “excruciating” pain during his “long and challenging” recovery.
The object Herman used in the stabbing was never recovered, but was described by the original sentencing judge as “potentially lethal”.
The sentencing judge said that using the weapon was a “gross overreaction” to being overpowered in the fight, and “went way beyond what would have been permissible when acting in self-defence”.
In his appeal decision, Justice Boldt found the jail term, for a conviction of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, was not excessive.
“The attack on the victim was serious and potentially life-threatening,” Justice Boldt said.
“The [sentencing] judge made no error in selecting the starting point or in the final sentence of five years and seven months imprisonment.”
Foster care and criminal convictions
Herman grew up in New Zealand until he was 14, partly in a boys’ home and foster care, before moving to Brisbane with his mother.
He accumulated more than 20 criminal convictions in Australia, including armed robbery and assault leading to actual bodily harm.
About 10 years ago, he was sent back to New Zealand as a “501″ deportee – named after the section of the Australian Migration Act used to expel people who have criminal records or on character grounds.
Herman has clocked up another 20 convictions since returning to New Zealand, including for wounding with intent, assault with intent to injure and possessing an offensive weapon.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.