English tourist injured during traditional Maori welcome

[netsat]

An English tourist has suffered a broken jaw and facial cuts after being struck by a Maori fighting weapon during a welcome to New Zealand.

Police in Kawakawa said the man was struck in the head with a wooden taiaha while watching a routine welcome on the Paihia wharf.

A Maori challenger swinging a 1m-long wooden taiaha stepped forward to avoid hitting people behind him, and instead struck the English visitor.

"When the guy does the challenge, he swings the taiaha over his head like a helicopter," said Sgt Brian Swann said.

It was then he hit the Englishman on the mouth. He was understood to have needed surgery and was taken to Whangarei Hospital with loose teeth, a broken jaw and deep cuts to his lip before being transferred to another hospital.