It took just one punch for a man to kill a stranger who he wrongly thought had tried to abduct his son from a skate park.
The 32-year-old appeared in the High Court at Christchurch on Friday where he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mewa Singh.
An interim order suppressing his name was continued until his scheduled sentencing in October.
On the evening of April 7 last year, according to the police summary of facts, the man was at his ex-partner's home in Linwood, along with their two young children.
About 6.30pm he and his seven-year-old son drove to a skate park at Linwood Park.
When it was time to leave, the man's son refused.
To teach the boy a lesson, the man got in his car and drove away without him, the summary says.
When he returned a short time later, he saw an unknown man, later identified as Singh, holding his son's hand near a bus stop on Linwood Ave, and became "enraged".
Singh, 60, from India, had travelled to New Zealand to visit his son and grandson, and had been in the country for about four months.
As the father approached the bus stop he yelled "that's my f---ing son", the summary says.
He told Singh to get his hands off his son and shoved him.
The father then drove his son back to his ex-partner's house about 7.15pm.
He told her he had seen his son with an Indian man.
The boy told his father that Singh was "trying to walk him to daddy's car".
The man didn't accept that, and said "f--- this, I'm going back there to find him".
The man's ex-partner told him not to return to the park, but he went there anyway, the summary says.
At the park, he confronted Singh – grabbing him by his shirt collar and accusing him of trying to abduct his son.
After shoving Singh, the man delivered a "haymaker-style punch" to his jaw.
Singh fell backwards, and his head hit the pavement.
The man thought Singh was dead.
He left him lying on the ground and returned to his ex-partner's.
He told her he had hit Singh and believed he had killed him. He then drove to his Spreydon home and told his flatmate the same thing.
The man was arrested at his home after his ex-partner called the police.
He told officers he'd lost control, and lashed out believing Singh was a paedophile.
Speaking to Stuff, Detective Senior Sergeant Damon Wells said Singh had done nothing wrong, and that the man's belief was incorrect.
Singh suffered a skull fracture and internal bleeding and died at Christchurch Hospital two days later.
