An early wake-up and a missing bottle of whisky have led to a man being sentenced to six months’ home detention.
Robert Rex Scoullar (48) appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to counts of intimidation, intentional damage and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
It began benignly enough at 5am on June 26 last year.
Scoullar became irate over the fact his girlfriend’s children were up so early.
He yelled at them to stop, which sparked an argument with their mother and a snap decision to end the relationship.
The victim moved in with a friend and over the following hours Scoullar sent her a flurry of abusive messages.
The next day, the defendant went to the Dunedin house where his ex-girlfriend was staying.
Scoullar banged on doors and windows and demanded he be let in to retrieve his bottle of whisky.
After 10 minutes, he battered his way in, kicking open the back door and breaking the lock in the process.
Scoullar hurled abuse at the people in the home, who tried to pacify him by handing over the whisky.
When the defendant noticed the bottle was not full it exacerbated his rage.
He requested cash and continued his tirade against his former partner.
He threw a heater across the room but left the property once police had been called.
Over the next two weeks, Scoullar sent the victim a barrage of messages, at least seven of which threatened revenge if he was charged by police.
“The defendant told the complainant that he held grudges for a long time and even if it was 10 years down the track, someone would pay,” a police summary said.
Scoullar also threatened to report the woman to Oranga Tamariki to have her children removed from her care.
Judge John Macdonald said the man’s aggressive conduct had had a significant impact on the victims and their children.
He accepted that it was “spontaneous” rather than premeditated.
Scoullar, who had spent time behind bars in the past, said he harboured no resentment to the victims.
He was ordered to pay $1200 reparation and also sentenced to 250 hours’ community work.
