A Dunedin police officer with 25 years' experience has called an incident during which he was confronted by a drunk man wielding a knife the scariest of his career.
Senior Constable Steve Griffiths turned up at a St Kilda home with other officers after reports of a domestic disturbance late on July 2.
They found a broken window panel in the front door with blood on the deck.
The blood trail led them through the house to a half-dressed Morgan John Steur-Clarke (30), who had bandaged his wounded hand with a tea towel.
In the hours beforehand, he had been drinking beer and gin at a Concord address before returning home where he argued with his partner.
After breaking doors and windows in the house, the woman left the property with their children.
Steur-Clarke was calm when police first arrived but became aggressive when they offered to take him to hospital, the court heard.
After demanding the officers left, the defendant ran to the kitchen where he grabbed a large knife.
Steur-Clarke brandished the weapon and charged police, who fled the scene and called for back-up.
Four more officers arrived and the man eventually came out of the house unarmed.
However, it was not the end of the fiasco as Steur-Clarke fought against being handcuffed and had to be lifted into the police vehicle.
After a quarter of a century as an officer Snr Const Griffiths said he had never felt so scared for his life.
“And he does not make that comment likely,” Judge Michael Crosbie said.
The officer had attended many domestic call-outs while working in rural areas but none had affected him like the July incident.
Snr Const Griffiths had become less trusting of people he dealt with in the job, the court heard.
After the Crown dropped more serious charges, Steur-Clarke pleaded guilty to intentional damage, possession of a weapon and resisting arrest.
His counsel Noel Rayner told the Dunedin District Court that his client had apologised to police, had stopped drinking alcohol and should be sentenced to home detention.
But Judge Crosbie noted a criminal history which took up five pages and spanned a decade.
The convictions included violence, drugs and breaching sentences, he said - “a real mix”.
The Judge said Steur-Clarke was “out of control” at the time of the offending and the fact the origins of the incident happened in front of his family was understated by the prosecution.
“Your behaviour was aggressive, fuelled by intoxication and anger, in my view,” he said.
“Those who arm themselves and threaten in close proximity to police can expect to be dealt with sternly by the courts.”
Judge Crosbie accepted the defendant had taken steps to sort his life out but said it was not enough.
Steur-Clarke was jailed for a year.
