A Christchurch man who was found guilty of an assault on his son in 2007 has lost his legal bid to overturn his conviction and sentence.
In what was seen at the time as the first test of the new anti-smacking laws, James Mason was acquitted on two other counts of assaulting his sons.
Witnesses said they saw Mason yank his older son's ear and punch his face when the child tried to ride his bike down a ramp on which his younger brother had crashed his bike just a little earlier.
Mason told the Court of Appeal the ear pulling and punching should have been in separate counts before the jury and he also raised a question about jury bias.
However the Court has dismissed his appeal and upheld his sentence of supervision.
