A man who attempted to abduct a 22-year-old woman in Dunedin's warehouse precinct last year has been sentenced to an open-ended term of imprisonment.
Justice David Gendall sentenced Joseph Lepper (37) to preventative detention, after ruling his risk of violent sexual re-offending was so high the community needed protection from him.
In August, in the High Court at Dunedin, Lepper, of Motueka, pleaded guilty to a charge of detaining a woman without her consent with intent to have sexual intercourse with her.
His co-accused Zane Alexander McVeigh (18), of Kaiapoi, was sentenced to two years and eight months' imprisonment on the same charge at that time.
This morning, Lepper came up for sentence before Justice Gendall.
On the night of October 19, last year, the pair were in Lepper's van cruising the warehouse precinct when Lepper spotted the victim walking in dimly lit Vogel St about 9.30pm.
''I'm going to do that bitch,'' he told McVeigh.
The victim, who cannot be named, fought off the pair as they tried to bundle her into the van, which was angle-parked in front of the 22-year-old.
The victim fought the pair off, and managed to escape.
Justice Gendall said a starting point for finite imprisonment was five to six years.
But Lepper had a past history of violent offending, and had only recently been released from prison for raping a woman who was jogging, after threatening to kill her.
Justice Gendall was satisfied Lepper's risk of re-offending was high, and the community needed to be protected.
