The 25-year-old man appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after earlier pleading guilty to indecent assault, assault, wilful damage, possessing cannabis, refusing to provide a blood specimen and disqualified driving.
The court heard that the defendant indecently assaulted the victim on November 9, 2024, after they had both been drinking with friends at Taieri Beach.
They went back to a Milton address and the defendant and victim were left alone in the house.
After she fell asleep on the couch, the man put his hand under the girl’s clothes and groped her.
She woke up and he continued the unwanted touching.
The woman jumped up causing the defendant to fall over the couch before he vomited.
While on bail for that offending, the defendant racked up five more charges.
On September 17 last year, he was in his room playing loud music before he hit a wall, breaking the plaster board.
He repeatedly hit the wall with a golf club and punched a woman at the house in the stomach.
Later that month, he was caught driving while disqualified and drunk.
Arresting officers found a small amount of cannabis in his pocket.
In a letter to the court, the victim of the indecent touching said she was still affected by the incident.
She was left feeling anxious, burdened and did not know who to trust, she said.
"I’m genuinely so exhausted by the pain," she said,
"I have to deal with the constant reminders in my head."
Judge Emma Smith said the offending was serious, but also acknowledged the raft of mental-health difficulties the defendant was dealing with.
He had since engaged in counselling and Alcoholics Anonymous, the court heard.
Because of the defendant’s psychological difficulties, counsel Rose Morton argued for final name suppression.
The victim, though, said the defendant was simply trying to avoid responsibility.
Judge Smith ruled there was a risk of the defendant’s mental health declining if his name was published and granted the final suppression order.
The judge sentenced him to three months’ community detention, 200 hours’ community work and 18 months’ intensive supervision.
She ordered him to pay court costs of $148 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months and a day.
