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A “toxic” relationship between Frankton flatmates came to a head when one of them kicked open a door and grabbed the other’s hair.
Gary Bruce Dennis, 59, was sentenced in Queenstown’s court this week on a charge of male assaults female arising from the March 28 incident.
About 8pm, a heavily drunk Dennis began verbally abusing the victim and “shouting profanities” at her, police say.
This continued for a few minutes before the victim locked herself in the apartment’s bathroom to get away from him.
However, Dennis kicked the door open and grabbed a “fistful” of her hair.
The victim’s partner then intervened, allowing her to escape and call the cops.
Dennis told police he’d been angry with the victim because of her “disrespectful attitude”, but initially claimed to have no memory of kicking open the door or grabbing her hair.
His lawyer, Bryony Shackell, told the court the increasingly toxic relationship between the pair came to a head while the defendant was making dinner.
He’d overreacted to what he considered was “incessant baiting” by the victim, but accepted he’d made a “terrible mistake” by reacting the way he did.
Judge Russell Walker noted Dennis had previous convictions for intentional damage and assault in a family relationship from five years ago.
He entered the conviction and imposed a sentence of 75 hours’ community work and 12 months’ supervision.
Brit ‘plundered’ supermarket
A judge says he’s sick of shoplifters using the cost of living in the Queenstown Lakes as an excuse for “pillaging supermarkets”.
Judge Russell Walker’s comments came while he was sentencing Joseph Roger Windall, 19, on 12 charges of theft from Wānaka’s New World Three Parks supermarket.
Windall’s lawyer, Megan Waller, said the British national had travelled to New Zealand in May with his girlfriend on a working holiday visa, and they’d underestimated the cost of living in Wānaka.
It’d then taken him a while to find work, but he was now employed as a carer.
The defendant and his girlfriend had been experiencing financial hardship, and he’d been “stealing to eat”, Waller said.
“He wasn’t stealing luxuries, it was for the most part out of necessity.”
Convictions were likely to jeopardise Windall’s ability to remain in the country, and affect his ability to apply for visas in other countries, such as Australia, she said.
However, Walker said he was tired of hearing the cost of living as an excuse for shoplifting.
The “most rudimentary Google search” would tell anyone the cost of living in Wānaka or Queenstown was higher than other parts of the country.
“I think the result comes back with the word ‘exorbitant’.”
The defendant had “repeatedly plundered” the supermarket on 12 occasions between July 14 and August 10, using the same method to steal items with a total value of $259.98.
“A lot of people, Mr Windall, particularly families, are finding times really tough at the moment.
“Every time you go and steal from a supermarket, you simply make it more expensive for those honest families to buy groceries for their children.”
He entered the 12 convictions and sentenced Windall to 90 hours’ community work and ordered him to pay back the value of the stolen items.
He also imposed a deferred sentence of 12 months, which means if Windall’s charged with any dishonesty or shoplifting offences in that time, he risks going to prison.
