R v W - [2016] NZHC 1076

NOTE: PUBLICATION OF NAME, ADDRESS(ES), OCCUPATION(S) OR IDENTIFYING PARTICULARS, OF COMPLAINANT PROHIBITED BY S 203 OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 2011.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND ROTORUA REGISTRY

CRI-2015-063-3797

[2016] NZHC 1076

THE QUEEN

v

LANCE TE MANAWA WALKER

Hearing: 23 May 2016

Appearances:

N Tahana for the Crown

H S Edward for the Defendant

Sentence:

23 May 2016

SENTENCING NOTES OF MUIR J

Counsel/Solicitors:
N Tahana, Crown Solicitors, Rotorua
H Edward, Harry Edward Law, Rotorua

R v WALKER [2016] NZHC 1076 [23 May 2016]

Introduction

[1] Mr Walker you appear for sentence today having pleaded guilty to one charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one of breach of a protection order. The wounding with intent charge carries a maximum penalty of 14 years of imprisonment. In the circumstances of the attack it is perhaps fortunate that you are not facing even more serious charges today.

Facts

[2] You have a long and violent history with your ex-partner, who is the victim of the assault for which you are being sentenced. She is currently 50 years of age. You had been in a relationship with her for about 10 years and you have a son together. Sadly, this was not the first occasion of violence against the victim; indeed as early as 2008 she was granted a protection order against you in the Rotorua Family Court.

[3] On Wednesday 23 December 2015 you finished work early and began consuming alcohol with workmates. You arrived at the victim’s home at about 1 am, yelling at her to open the door, which she did. You then accused her of having another male in the house which caused her to fear for her safety. She escaped into the street with her cell phone to call for the police.

[4] You armed yourself with an approximately 25cm knife which you found in the kitchen of her home and you followed the victim into the street. You called her, among other things, a “bitch” and “dog shit”. You yelled Black Power slogans at her. The victim tried to run from you but then turned to face you, begging you to stop. You grabbed her by the throat hard enough to restrict her breathing and forced her to the ground. You continued abusing her, yelling gang slogans and calling her a slut.

[5] While you held the victim down on the ground with your body weight you aimed the blade of the knife at her face. She wrestled the knife off you by grabbing the blade with her bare hands causing deep lacerations to them. She had the strength, in the extremity of that moment, to snap the blade off the knife. You then stabbed her

three to four times in the head with the broken butt and blade of the knife. The victim believes, I consider genuinely, that if she hadn’t managed to snap the blade off you would have stabbed her in the face with it. Throughout…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading R v W

Details

AGLC: R v W [2016] NZHC 1076
Case: [2016] NZHC 1076
Decision Date: 23 May 2016

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case of R v W involved a defendant, Lance Te Manawa Walker, who was sentenced for one charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one charge of breach of a protection order. The maximum penalty for the wounding with intent charge was 14 years of imprisonment. The defendant had a history of violence against his ex-partner, who was the victim of the assault. On December 23, 2015, the defendant armed himself with a knife and attacked the victim, causing her severe injuries. The court found that the defendant's offending exhibited several aggravating features, including the use of a weapon, extreme violence, the attack being aimed at the victim's head, the seriousness of the injury, the victim's vulnerability, and an element of premeditation. The court determined that the case fell at the upper end of Band 2 of Taueki, attracting a starting point of between 9 and 10 years' imprisonment. After considering the aggravating and mitigating factors, the court imposed a sentence of six years and eight months imprisonment on the charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and three months' imprisonment on the charge of breach of protection order, to be served concurrently with the previous sentence. The court also made orders that the identity of the victim or any details leading to her identification are to be suppressed.

Orders