A Dunedin man with a "horrible" history of violence has been sentenced to home detention after trying to throw his ex-partner off a balcony.
Mathew Taitoko Waaka, 46, deserved to go to jail for his crimes, Judge Michael Crosbie told the Dunedin District Court yesterday but the self-described "man screaming out for help" was given a reprieve.
"The greater good, I think, is to have you in a full-time residential rehabilitation environment, where you can get some structured form of assistance," the judge said.
"Changing what are very much ingrained behaviours, stuff you regard instinctively as normal ... it’s going to take a long time to break those habits."
Waaka, who had 24 previous convictions for violence, spanning many years, visited a South Dunedin address on November 24.
While wielding a spade, he accused one of the residents of stealing $30,000 of his property, but left after a brief verbal altercation.
The mother of the man followed him out and Waaka punched her in the face before throwing her phone over a fence.
Just weeks later, the defendant was at his ex-partner’s home arguing about her desire to return to the North Island.
Waaka punched her in the face and, when the woman threatened to call police, grabbed her and attempted to throw her over a balcony.
She was left with abrasions and bruises and the defendant told police she had been hitting herself.
At a restorative-justice meeting, however, he apologised for his actions and stressed his desire to address his issues.
"I need to get the anger out of my head," Waaka said.
Judge Crosbie noted the defendant had many convictions to his name, which showed a disregard for the justice system.
At the time of Waaka’s most recent attacks he was serving a sentence of intensive supervision, imposed for a slew of crimes including threatening to shoot someone while attending a court hearing.
If he failed to abide by the rules of the Dunedin residential rehab facility at which he would serve his sentence, he would be locked up, the judge said.
"At your age, you need to start thinking about the future," he said.
Waaka was sentenced to seven months’ home detention.
