Man convicted for attacking teen with a hedgehog

London, May 31 : A man who attacked a teenage boy with a hedgehog has been convicted and fined for the offence.

William Singalargh, 27, has been asked to give a penalty of 700 NZ dollars and has also been ordered to pay 500 NZ dollars out of it to his victim by a court in Whakatane, in New Zealand.

The 15-year-old boy was returning home with two friends in February when four men on the road confronted him near his house.

One of the men, Singalargh, was holding a hedgehog and asked the boy: "Do you want to wear a hedgehog helmet?"

When the boy indicated that he would rather not, Singalargh threw the animal, leaving a large red welt and four quills lodged in the teenager's hip.

When the boy's mother intervened, Singalargh pulled down his trousers and exposed his buttocks.

He had pleaded not guilty to the charges, claiming he was not the hedgehog hurler.

However, judge Ian Thomas preferred the evidence of other witnesses who identified him by the bright orange trousers he was wearing at the time.

A more serious charge of assault with a weapon, the hedgehog, was dropped because if he had been convicted of that charge, he would have to face five-year sentence.

"He admitted to having been in possession of a hedgehog," the Telegraph quoted police Constable Lyndon Reid, as saying.

"He originally claimed that the group had been playing hacky sack with it," he added, referring to a game in which the aim is to keep up a small ball or beanbag in the air."

However, it was not known whether the hedgehog was dead or alive at the time of the attack, but Senior Sgt Bruce Jenkins said earlier in the case that it was dead when collected as evidence.

ANI