A Central Otago man who beat his ex-partner, gagged her with insulation tape then raped her has been jailed for more than four years. The defendant, aged in his 60s, was granted permanent name suppression when he appeared in the Dunedin District Court on Monday, to protect the identities of the victim and his children. He was found guilty at trial of two charges of sexual violation from the 2022 incident and had pleaded guilty to assault in a family relationship. The court heard the defendant was home when his ex-partner came over to visit the children, however they were staying elsewhere. When the victim went to leave, the man punched her about 10 times to the head and hauled her to the floor of the lounge. He used black insulation tape to apply pressure to her nose and mouth but the jury found it was not enough to convict him of a charge of impeding breathing. Judge Robinson, though, said it was enough to force the woman’s compliance. “This would’ve been utterly terrifying,” he said. “She would’ve been in no position to resist you or defend herself against you.” The victim asked the man to think of his children but he had other plans. The defendant told her she could leave if they had sex. While the woman went with him to the bedroom, her actions were driven by fear, the judge said. Once the attack was over, the victim asked him if he realised what he done. The man said he was sorry and “did not know what had been going on in his head”. When the defendant experienced chest pains and called for medical advice, the woman made her escape. The court heard the victim now suffered PTSD, lacked confidence and struggled to trust people. In a statement, she said she had made progress in recent years but accepted she would never be the same person as she was before in the incident. Despite the guilty verdicts, the defendant maintained his innocence and claimed the allegations against him had been raised so the victim could move to Australia with the children. He also talked about her “unfaithfulness”, which Judge Robinson categorised as “victim blaming”. While the defendant had two violence convictions from decades ago, it was not indicative of a pattern of behaviour, the judge said. Counsel Kirsten Gray said her client had worked hard to be a good father and had built a life for himself in New Zealand. “That life has completely and utterly crumbled,” she said. Numerous references before the court showed the crimes were “entirely out of character”, Ms Gray said and the judge agreed the man was “extraordinarily well-regarded” by those who knew him. The defendant was jailed for four years five months. rob.kidd@odt.co.nz
