Jailed for year for threatening to kill

A Dunedin man who threatened police with finger guns and had to be pepper-sprayed into submission has been jailed for a year.

Lionel James Apanui Tuwairua (39) had 17 pages of convictions, which Judge Peter Rollo said showed a clear pattern of standover-style behaviour.

Counsel John Westgate told the Dunedin District Court his client had a short fuse.

‘‘When confronted with a situation he’s not happy with, he tends to react in a way that makes things worse,’’ he said.

That was on show in November last year when Tuwairua was sentenced for breaching a protection order.

When the judge arrived at a sentence of nine months’ imprisonment, the defendant erupted.

Climbing on to the bench of the dock and grabbing hold of the Perspex barrier, he unleashed a torrent of abuse.

‘‘Who the f... do you think you are?’’ he yelled at the judge.

Corrections staff grabbed the man before he could vault out of the dock.

‘‘Appeal it right now. I want a new lawyer,’’ Tuwairua shouted.

No legal challenge to the outcome eventuated, however.

After his release, Tuwairua was living in a boarding house in central Dunedin in May this year when his intimidatory and impulsive nature arose again.

Because of the defendant’s behaviour, property managers decided to terminate his tenancy.

But knowing his propensity to overreact, they called police before they planned to tell him.

Their predictions proved accurate and Tuwairua ‘‘did not take the news well’’, the court heard.

‘‘He immediately became enraged and began threatening police and tenants at the complex.’’

A stand-off developed and police negotiated for an ‘‘extended period’’ to try to resolve it peacefully.

Tuwairua, however, continued making verbal threats before punching holes in his bedroom wall and head-butting the door.

He advanced on officers with clenched fists while threatening to burn down the building with its residents inside.

‘‘He held his fingers in the shape of a gun and mimicked shooting police,’’ court documents said.

Police drew a Taser but it did not have the desired effect.

The defendant encouraged the officers to use it, but he was denied.

They instead subdued him with pepper spray.

Judge Rollo said the prolonged incident was at the serious end of the scale for such crimes.

A sentence of eight months’ imprisonment, as suggested by the defence, would see Tuwairua released on a time-served basis.

But the judge said that was inappropriate.

The defendant was convicted of threatening to kill, intentional damage and aggravated driving while suspended.

He was also banned from driving for a year.

rob.kidd@odt.co.nz

 

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