A drunk Ngaruawahia man took exception to his friends' prank by attacking the three of them with a meat cleaver, inflicting serious injuries, a court has heard.

Details of the attack, which was carried out by Warren Lloyd Edwards, 40, were revealed by Judge Merelina Burnett as she sentenced him to seven-and-a-half years jail. The minimum non-parole period is set at half that sentence.

The court heard Edwards and the three victims - who were all his friends - had been drinking together on October 18.

Edwards was using his partner's vehicle to get around and about 4.30pm they stopped at Ngaruawahia's Waipa Tavern. He went inside and spoke to his wife and daughter who walked home soon after.

Edwards turned up angry at his home soon after his wife and daughter arrived there. He told his wife his friends had taken off with her vehicle and that he had walked home after walking around town trying to find it.

His daughter then went for a walk and spotted the vehicle, along with Edwards' three friends. She texted her mum and dad where the vehicle was and told the three men to ''get that f****** truck home now dad has been looking all over town for it''.

When he arrived he started abusing the trio, then pulled out a cleaver, grabbed one of the victims and struck him on the head and neck three times with it before dropping him to the ground.

Edwards then walked to the next victim, who had already dropped to the ground in fear and was holding his hands up in defence.

Edwards grabbed one of his hands, then punched him in the head and struck him in the face with the meat cleaver.

Meanwhile, the third victim was unsuccessfully trying to scale a fence when Edwards pulled him down and also struck him over the head with the cleaver.

He then walked back to one of the other victims and stomped on the back of his head twice. Edwards wife then stepped in and ordered him to stop.

All three victims were taken to Waikato Hospital, suffering a variety of injuries. Two men needed surgery after suffering several serious injuries each, including lacerations, a compound fracture to a left temple bone and a skull fracture.

In asking for no minimum non-parole period, Edwards' lawyer Jarom Keung said his client was extremely remorseful for what happened, had attended a restorative justice conference, had insight into his offending and entered an early guilty plea.

He also had a history of mental illness, including anxiety and depression.

Edwards former employer Don Jacobs pleaded with Judge Burnett to ''show mercy'' as he was a ''good man in the community'' which continued to support him and was not in danger from him.

But Judge Burnett noted Edwards continued to drink, despite it being a factor in the attack and noted his reason for the attack in a report - ''I felt they were disrespecting me'' - which she regarded as a ''distorted view on your sense of entitlement''.

''If you're not willing to show motivation to change your drinking then that's something that considerably troubles the court.''

And although a restorative justice conference was held, none of the victims turned up.

Judge Burnett also issued Edwards a first strike warning on the three charges he admitted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.