H v Police HC Rotorua CRI 2008-463-66

[2008] NZHC 2571

This case has been anonymized

ORDER PROHIBITING PUBLICATION UNTIL FINAL DISPOSITION OF TRIAL

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND ROTORUA REGISTRY

CRI 2008-463-000066

H

Appellant

v

NEW ZEALAND POLICE

Respondent

Hearing:         17 September 2008

Appearances: F Robertson for Appellant

T Bayley for Crown

Judgment:      17 September 2008

ORAL JUDGMENT OF VENNING J

Solicitors:           Crown Solicitor, Rotorua

F Robertson

H V NEW ZEALAND POLICE HC ROT CRI 2008-463-000066  17 September 2008

[1]      This is an appeal from refusal of bail in the District Court on 3 September

2008.  The appellant faces two charges, one of threatening to kill and the other of assaulting a  complainant using a motor vehicle  as  a  weapon.    The  charges  are serious.  They have a domestic background but they are no less serious as a result of that.  In some ways it makes them worse.

[2]      In declining bail on 3 September the Justice of the Peace seems to have been influenced by the domestic nature of the matter.  She recorded that this Court has zero tolerance to family violence, the seriousness of the charge and in the victim’s interests declined bail.

[3]      But it is for the Court to determine bail in each case in the circumstances of the  particular  case  before it.    There  can  not  be  policies  of  “zero  tolerance”  or anything of that kind that apply as a blanket to all cases of a particular nature that come before the Court.

[4]      In this case also the appellant is under the age of 20.  Section 15 of the Bail Act applies.   The Court is directed that it must release the defendant on bail or otherwise subject to such conditions as it thinks fit, except in very limited circumstances.  None of those limited circumstances apply in this case.  The Bail act therefore  required  the  District  Court,  and  this  Court  on  appeal,  to  release  the appellant on bail.

[5]      The risks and proper concerns about bail in this case are of contact with the complainant and the protection of the complainant.  Those risks can be addressed by proper bail conditions.  That is how the matter should have been approached in the District Court.

[6]      The  appeal  must  be  allowed.    The  appellant  is  admitted  to  bail  on  the following conditions:

a)        He is to reside at Tokaanu Station, Tukehu Street, Turangi.

b)He is to observe a curfew at that address from 7.00 p.m. until 6.00 a.m.

c)        He is not to consume alcohol or illicit drugs.

d)       He is not to contact the complainant directly or indirectly. e)  He is not to enter the township of Omori.

f)        The appellant is currently in custody at Waikeria Prison.  I direct that on release from that prison today he is to be taken directly from the

prison to the bail address.

Venning J