Bloody assault changed Mike the juggler's life forever, attacker told

Wellington street performer Mike the juggler spent a day lying on the floor of his room at Loafers Lodge after he was beaten for 17 minutes by another resident.

Once he was found by concerned friends, he spent a month in intensive care and another five in rehabilitation for a brain injury.

Mike “the juggler” Wahrlich then returned to live at Loafers Lodge where he was one of the five who died in the fatal fire in May.

His sister, Margaret, told the court, reading a victim impact statement on her brother’s behalf and in his honour, said Jade Arena had not only disfigured his looks but his neurological system – his brain – because of that beating.

He had suffered a broken jaw, broken eye socket and a brain bleed. He did not give a statement to police.

“Mike had been doing his own thing, not causing any problems, juggling his way around the city he loved.”

She said he did not like conflict and only wanted to do what he loved best, juggling and putting a smile on the faces of those who passed by.

She said Arena then made the choice to beat him within an inch of his life.

“You took away his life for those six months. To this day, I cry and mourn my brother, but it's not only because he isn’t with us, but the thought of him being in pain and struggling makes me angry and sad.”

Arena had gone to Wahrlich’s room about 10pm on April 29, 2022, and asked him for a cigarette.

After Wahrlich said he could give him one, but when he went to get it, Arena began accusing him of bringing bed bugs into the lodge and wandering around naked.

He began beating Wahrlich, taunting him as well before leaving him on the floor.

Arena had pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to injure.

Yesterday, Wellington District Court judge Bruce Davidson said Arena had changed Mike’s life forever.

He was sentenced to six months’ community detention and nine months’ intensive supervision.

Judge Davidson said Arena’s life was almost as tragic, but he had now managed to get a job and the only reason he was getting a sentence of community detention and not prison was because of that job.

Arena’s lawyer, Louise Sziranyi, said he had gone to Australia as an infant, lived there his whole life and then was deported in 2017 after fighting it for a couple of years.

She said his whole family, including his seven children, were in Australia and he was never able to go there to visit them.

Sziranyi said Arena had been homeless, depressed and addicted.

Wahrlich’s funeral was the first of the Loafers Lodge victims and his sister Margaret invited the public of Wellington to attend.