​The man who attacked Newshub reporter Aziz Al-Sa'afin in an unprovoked homophobic attack has been sentenced to home detention.

Joden Martin, 20, was set to be sentenced earlier this year by Judge Robert Ronayne, however it was adjourned due to other charges.

On Tuesday at the Auckland District Court, Martin was sentenced to 11 months home detention.

STUFF Joden Martin was sentenced at the Auckland District Court. (FILE PHOTO)

He was also sentenced for a road rage incident where Martin brutally attacked another man in August 2018.

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Al-Sa'afin was not present in court for the sentencing but posted a statement on Instagram saying the sentencing was a win for anyone who had ever found themselves on the receiving end of discrimination "(or in my case a fist or two)".

"If you're faced with prejudice, answer with love. If you're dealt aggression, reciprocate with kindness. And if you're ever wronged, respond with forgiveness," Al-Sa'afin said.



At court, Martin had a number of family members supporting him.

Judge Ronayne said the sustained attack on Al-Sa'afin and his friend was entirely unprovoked and the victims were vulnerable.

The judge said Martin had a hostility towards homosexuals because of his religious views.

NZ POLICE CCTV footage released by police shows Joden Martin (left) on the night of the attack.

"This toxic, hatred cannot be dressed up as a religious view and then peddled out as some sort of freedom of religion or speech. You need to understand tolerance cuts both ways," the Judge said.

'I FORGIVE YOU'

At the earlier appearance, Al-Sa'afin told the man who attacked him: "We all believe in the same thing and that is love.

"I forgive you for what you did to me."

In May, Martin pleaded guilty to two charges of injuring with intent to injure and assault with intent to injure.

Martin and a friend were walking along Auckland's Karangahape Rd around 1.39am, when they came across Al-Sa'afin and his friend Fergus Fauvel standing on Cobden St.

Martin approached the two men, yelling out "f..." and "homos" while punching Fauvel behind his left ear and kicking him in his right shoulder.

He then punched Fauvel in the nose before punching Al-Sa'afin twice in his left ear and the right side of his jaw.

When Fauvel tried to get away, Martin chased him out on to Karangahape Rd, throwing him onto the ground.

When he stood up, Martin pushed him against a wall and continued to punch him.

As a result of the attack, Fauvel suffered a fractured nose and cuts on his back while Al-Sa'afin had injuries to his face, lip and jaw.

Martin told police he was not in the right head space at the time of the assault because it was his late father's birthday, and his first year without him.

His lawyer Judith Walshe previously told the court he had taken offence to the two friends standing beside a church.

"He finds it difficult to even explain what had happened that night, he had been drinking and it was the anniversary of his father's death," Walshe said.

On Tuesday, Walshe said Martin's actions were "stupid and unacceptable of a grieving young man".

Walshe asked for a sentence of home or community detention to aid in his rehabilitation, anger management and counselling.

"He needs to deal with the anger and the grief in respect to his father's death," Walshe said.

Ahead of the sentencing, Al-Sa'afin told the court: "Growing up here in New Zealand, never did I think that I would be subject to an assault like this, like what my friend and I endured on that horrific night.

"I never thought that I would be the victim of a homophobic attack.

"On the night my friend Ferg and I were made to feel humiliated, and worthless.

"The actions of Joden were intended to make us feel like we didn't belong and that we were wrong in living our lives in the way that we were."

ROAD RAGE INCIDENT

Martin was also sentenced for an attack on a driver in August 2018 who he subjected to numerous punches.

"It was simple road rage, nothing more, nothing less," Judge Ronayne said.

The court heard Martin was a passenger in a car driving on Great North Rd in New Lynn when the victim refused to let Martin's vehicle into the lane.

Martin and the victim pulled the finger at each other while both stopped at an intersection before Martin got out of the car and started punching the victim, Judge Ronayne said.

The victim was dragged to the ground, Martin sat on him and subjected to him to further punches to the head and face.

The victim sustained serious injuries and Martin said he'd been upset as he'd been at his father's funeral.

Judge Ronayne rejected that as a mitigating factor, saying thousands of people attend funerals and don't react with violence.