Lennard Haven Sciascia (36) was sent back to New Zealand — the country he left with his mother and siblings as an 8-year-old — in 2020, after spending more than six years behind bars for defensive homicide in Victoria.
Justice Kevin Bell, at Sciascia’s 2014 sentencing in the Supreme Court of Victoria, said the defendant’s rehabilitative prospects were strong.
"You are not a significant continuing risk to society in my view," he said.
But Sciascia, who left a girlfriend and two children behind in Australia, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week where he was jailed for four months for two assaults against his new partner.
The attacks, which occurred during a week in November last year, involved a push and a punch in the face, as well as a blow to a bystander who tried to intervene.
The court heard he had also been convicted for offences against the woman in 2021 and there had been repeated police family-violence call-outs to their home.
"I’m very aware of your capability of delivering very significant violence indeed," Judge David Robinson said, referring to Sciascia’s crimes in Australia.
The defendant left school aged 15 and worked as a shearer and trawler fisherman until 2012 when he suffered a neck injury while on a boat.
The Australian court heard that six months before the killing Sciascia began smoking methamphetamine and habitually stayed up for four days without sleep.
On October 14, 2012, the defendant and a friend conducted a "run through" of 20-year-old Troy Hocking’s home, taking electronics and jewellery to cover a debt he owed.
That incident sparked Mr Hocking and two mates to seek retribution, turning up at a property wielding a baseball bat, hammer, cricket bat and fence paling.
As Sciascia and his associates fled the scene, a car driven by their rivals rammed them as they took off.
"I ain’t got a gun but I’ll be there," Mr Hocking told Sciascia.
On the way to the scheduled showdown, however, the groups fatefully crossed paths.
Sciascia confronted Mr Hocking with two bullets in his mouth "like boar’s teeth" before pulling out a .22 pistol and holding it to the victim’s head.
"You ain’t got the guts to pull the trigger," Mr Hocking said.
Sciascia stepped back and shot him in the chest.
"He never for a second believed that you would shoot him and the action that you took was grossly disproportionate to the fears that you had for your own safety," Justice Bell said.
Before his arrest, Sciascia hid the firearm, tried to create an alibi and washed the gunshot residue from his clothes.
When his associates discussed Mr Hocking possibly dying, he said, "f ... him, he should have paid his bill".
Sciascia’s then-partner told the court he was a "great father" — except when using meth.
At his Dunedin sentencing Judge David Robinson said the defendant had been putting undue pressure on his new girlfriend to support him and they had agreed to counselling.
He imposed release conditions which barred the couple from living together but allowed contact from 7am to 7pm.
Sciascia was released this week because of the time he had spent on remand.
Judge Robinson refused an Otago Daily Times application to photograph Sciascia because the recent charges were "minor in the grand scheme of things".
What is defensive homicide?
- The charge under Australia’s Crimes Act does not have an equivalent in New Zealand.
- It covers instances when someone kills in the belief that it was necessary to do so in order to defend themselves from the infliction of death or really serious injury, but in circumstances where they did not have reasonable grounds for that belief.
- If the defendant is found to not genuinely believe they acted in self-defence, the crime is murder.
- The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment.
