Get the latest Welsh rugby news sent straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A man found guilty of violently attacking former Ospreys and All Blacks scrum-half Justin Marshall in a bar has been ordered to undergo anger management in New Zealand.

Marshall, who won 81 caps for his country and is an occasional pundit for Scrum V on BBC Wales, was attacked in Queenstown in the early hours of Good Friday last year in what has been described as an act of “unprovoked, alcohol-fuelled street violence”.

And after Adam Kearns was sentenced for assaulting Marshall with intent to injure at Invercargill District Court, it’s emerged the 23-year-old is the son of infamous New Zealand killer Helen Milner.

Milner is serving a life sentence for the murder of her second husband, Phil Nisbet.

Read more:Former All Black Mils Muliaina charged with sexual assault by South Wales Police

Read more:Dallaglio: the one Welshman I really wish was English

Both Kearns and Marshall had been inside a Queenstown bar last year, drinking in separate groups. The trial heard Kearns claim Marshall picked up his beer and drank it. The defendant argued with the former All Blacks star who either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore him.

Once they had left the bar, Kearns told the ex-scrum-half: “You think you’re the f****** man, well, you’re not.”

A scuffle promptly broke out with Kearns and friend Tai Samuel Neilson both caught on CCTV punching and kicking Marshall in the head while he was on the ground.

Read more:Why Nigel Owens hopes he DOESN'T get to referee the World Cup final

Neilson, 25, was last year sentenced to five months’ home detention for his role in the attack.

The trial in New Zealand heard how Marshall, who also played for Leeds, Montpellier and Saracens, tried to protect himself from the blows. The assault only came to an end when a passing motorist saw the incident and stopped to confront both Kearns and Neilson.

Video: Marshall is attacked in New Zealand

Marshall, 41, suffered bad bruising to his back, head and body, lacerations, and a large contusion under the left eye with his victim statement revealing how he now feels vulnerable in public after the attack. The TV pundit said the injuries he suffered meant he was unable to fulfil his media commitments for an extended period of time.

Kearns was sentenced to a period of four months’ home detention and 250 hours of community work after he was earlier found guilty by jury.

Prior to being sentenced for his attack on Marshall, Kearns had narrowly escaped a jail term earlier this year after he was caught dealing cannabis and being in possession of a gun.

Kearns had told New Zealand police he was in possession of a sawn-off shotgun to defend himself as his mother Milner had wanted him killed.

“My old lady is paying for a hit to be put on me,” he said.

In 2009, Kearns gave evidence which helped convict his mother of fatally poisoning Nisbet.

Kearns later won damages of $55,000 from his mother after she framed him in an incident which saw him put behind bars. Milner admitted perverting the course of justice by sending herself death threats and claiming they were from her son.

Kearns was arrested over the alleged threats and spent 18 days in custody before he was finally cleared.

He has launched legal action against police for allegedly failing to properly investigate his case.

In April, Kearns received eight months’ home detention and 150 hours of community work and was also ordered to undertake psychological assistance after being caught with the drugs and shotgun.

And after being found guilty of the attack on Marshall, Crown prosecutor Mary-Jane Thomas told Kearns home detention was again “on the cards”.

During the trial, Kearns claimed he was acting in self defence after Marshall had attacked him.

But while the judge said Kearns was entitled to some sympathy given his past, it was not something he could “continue to trade upon from this point on”.

Kearns was sentenced to four months’ of home detention and 250 hours of community work.

Six months of special conditions was built into the sentence to allow Kearns to undergo anger management treatment and psychological assessment.