A Dunedin grandfather was in the midst of a manic episode when he threatened to end a stripper’s dancing career, a court has heard.
A week later 71-year-old Timothy Duval-Smith smashed the door of a sex worker and demanded repayment of $100 he had earlier paid her.
He appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week where he pleaded guilty to seven charges over a wild two-month period.
Defence counsel Noel Rayner said Duval-Smith’s actions were directly related to his partly treatment-resistant bipolar disorder which had "run rampant at times".
A report noted over the past five years, the defendant had had up to two manic episodes a year.
The court heard Duval-Smith became a regular patron at Stilettos Revue Bar during mid-2018.
On October 7, he was refused entry to the premises and the victim — an exotic dancer with whom he had become obsessed — came to the door in a bid to calm the situation.
Instead, Duval-Smith turned on the woman.
"I will end you and you’ll never be able to dance again," he said.
"I will end you."
Within days his anger boiled over again.
After an appointment with a sex worker "did not end well", Duval-Smith went to where she lived with a long-handled, police-style baton.
He smashed a large hole in the victim’s door while yelling about the return of his cash.
She called police, who found him in his car with the weapon, cannabis, a pipe and a large dagger.
Mr Rayner explained his client was a collector of weapons and had always had a fascination with metal objects.
The following month, while on bail, Duval-Smith was seen by police driving erratically near Oamaru, overtaking dangerously and narrowly avoiding collisions.
He refused to give a blood sample and defended his conduct.
"The defendant stated that there was nothing wrong with his driving. He was a good driver and was trying to get from Dunedin to Oamaru as fast as possible," a police summary said.
Duval-Smith was unrepentant when he was interviewed before sentencing, protesting his innocence, but that changed this week.
"I’m terribly sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused," he said.
Duval-Smith was sentenced to four months’ community detention, 12 months’ supervision and banned from driving for nine months.
