Wellington, September 12, 2007 – A Somali immigrant in New Zealand has been put behind bars for 21 months after using his wheelchair as a weapon.

36-year old Abdirashid Hirsi has a history of using his wheelchair to commit violent offences, and after his two most recent attacks was sentenced to spend nearly two years in jail.

He appeared before a Wellington District Court for sentencing on one charge of injuring with intent to injure, a charge of using a phone for fictitious purposes, a charge of assaulting police and a charge of willful damage.

Hirsi was found guilty by a jury who rejected his defense that his victim, a woman, received injuries to her head after falling while intoxicated.

It all started when Hirsi decided to spend some time with the complainant as they were thinking about starting a relationship.

The two were drinking at a neighbors' house, and when the woman returned after seeing her stepmother, Hirsi accused of cheating on him. As she got ready to leave the party, Hirsi said something to her which she could not hear and so she bent down beside his wheelchair.

That's when things got violent with Hirsi grabbing his companion and hitting her on the head three times with the detachable arm of his wheelchair, reports Stuff.co.nz.

The woman dialed the emergency number was too traumatized to speak. A man at the house who had responded to her cries for help took the phone. Hirsi told him the victim had fallen over.

The victim rejected this, saying Hirsi had beaten her up.

Judge Gaskell told the jury that Hirsi then tried to divert the ambulance by giving contradictory and false directions in the hope that the ambulance and police would not come.

He continued to make calls to the ambulance service even after police had arrived.

He assaulted a police officer who tried to arrest.

Source: Daily India