Man with Tasered, taken out of the Invercargill courtroom

An Invercargill man had to be subjected to Tasered and removed from court after he began to misbehave.

The man, who has provisional name deletion, faced 13 charges, including assault, dangerous driving, possession of an offensive weapon and attempt to thwart the course of justice.

He pleaded guilty through his defense attorney Sonia Vidal to three charges: driving while disqualified, dangerous driving and assaulting a person in a family relationship.

The police dropped the charge of assaulting a person with a blunt instrument.

The man was sentenced by Judge Bernadette Farnan to seven months in prison and 18 months of disqualification from driving.

Early this morning, the defendant appeared for sentencing but, as Judge Farnan described, he was misbehaving.

“I’m not sure what caused that.”

He had to be forcibly removed and was subjected to Tasered.

“Such behavior will not be tolerated,” he said.

The remaining issues facing the man will be addressed at his appearance next week.