Shortly after his most recent release in 2023, Justice Melanie Harland in the High Court at Dunedin imposed a five-year Extended Supervision Order (ESO), meaning Waho would be under the intense scrutiny of Corrections over that period.
Such orders are more commonly used to monitor high-risk sex offenders but can be imposed, in rare cases, on recidivist violent criminals.
Waho, originally from Nelson, appealed the decision this year on the basis he did not meet the criteria of "persistently harbouring vengeful intentions".
But in a decision released last month, the Court of Appeal rejected that argument.
In 2009, when he was 17, Waho saw a man talking to his then partner and then punched and threatened to stab him.
When he and his girlfriend returned home, he hit her over the head from behind with a bottle and punched her repeatedly in the face.
Waho was jailed for four years but within months of his release, in 2013, he started a new relationship and the same jealous tendencies emerged.
After the woman’s father called to check on her wellbeing, the defendant became aggravated and later threatened her with a kitchen knife.
She curled herself into a foetal position as Waho stabbed her in the abdomen and punched her in the same area five times.
He was locked up for six and a-half years and his freedom after that stint was again brief.
High on methamphetamine, Waho stole a car and petrol, and was pursued by police 11 days after release.
Later he punched another driver, took their car and was again pursued by police before crashing and stealing another vehicle, colliding with a police car in the process.
When he was eventually caught, he punched an officer in the face and was later jailed for three years.
Waho also told a psychologist that around the same time he had punched a woman in the stomach, potentially causing her miscarriage.
Clinical psychologist Hadyn McKendry put him at "very high" risk of future violent crimes.
Waho told another clinician he had a fear of being abandoned and quickly became jealous of his partners.
He denied he held persistent feelings of vengeance.
While the Court of Appeal acknowledged much of his offending appeared "reactive and immediate", the attacks on his partners involved greater premeditation.
Justice Matthew Palmer described it as "hostile rumination with feelings of jealousy and anger, and subsequent acting out of vengeful intentions".
The court had earlier heard about Waho’s dysfunctional background, which resulted in him leaving school at 9, using cannabis at 13 and progressing to binge drinking and methamphetamine at 16.
He had since amassed 49 convictions and had continued to act aggressively in prison.
