R v Wyatt - [2022] NZHC 133

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND HAMILTON REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA
KIRIKIRIROA ROHE

CRI-2019-019-003516 [2022] NZHC 133

THE QUEEN

v

NICHOLAS BRIAN WYATT

Hearing: 9 February 2022

Appearances:

R Guthrie for Crown G Walsh for Defendant

Judgment:

9 February 2022

SENTENCING NOTES OF VENNING J

Solicitors: Hamilton Legal, Hamilton Counsel: G Walsh, Hamilton

R v WYATT [2022] NZHC 133 [9 February 2022]

[1] Nicholas Wyatt, you appear for sentence in this Court having pleaded guilty to meeting a young person following sexual grooming and to two representative charges of sexual conduct with a young person under 16. The District Court Judge who took the pleas convicted you and remanded you to this Court for sentence.

[2] The maximum penalty for the sexual conduct offending is 10 years’ imprisonment.

[3] I note the Crown does not offer any evidence on the remaining charges in the charge notice and you are discharged in relation to them.1

[4] I am to sentence you on the basis of the summary of facts you pleaded guilty to.

[5] That discloses that in May 2016 you commenced a romantic relationship with the victim’s older sister. The relationship only lasted a short period of time. During the course of that relationship you were introduced to the victim who at the time was 13 years old. You were 31 or 32.

[6] On one occasion you were at the victim’s home socialising with her parents. As she walked past, you slapped her on the buttocks. The following day you added her as a ‘friend’ on Facebook. You also started following the victim on Instagram, and began to contact her on the social media application Hangouts. You contacted her via social media on a daily basis.

[7] In June 2018 you saw the victim walking to school. She was 15 at the time. You offered to give her a ride to school. During that drive to school you kissed her and proceeded to rub and touch her legs. The victim attempted to push you away, however, you were persistent and kept touching her legs. You eventually dropped her at school. From then on, you contacted the victim suggesting times and dates when you could meet up either before or after school. At first she was reluctant to meet with you. However, you insisted on meeting her and offered her alternative times and dates to do so. She eventually agreed to meet.

1 Discharged on charges 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Charge Notice, dated 5 February 2021.

[8]The sexual offending occurred between June 2018 and September 2018.

[9] On the first occasion you had sexual intercourse with the victim, you met her after school and took her to a secluded location, parked the car, removed her clothing and had sexual intercourse with her in the back of the car.

[10] After…

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 Wyatt

Details

AGLC: R v Wyatt [2022] NZHC 133
Case: [2022] NZHC 133
Decision Date: 9 February 2022

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Nicholas Brian Wyatt was convicted and sentenced in the High Court of New Zealand for meeting a young person following sexual grooming and for sexual conduct with a young person under 16 years of age. The court had to decide whether to impose a finite sentence of imprisonment or a sentence of preventive detention, which has no end date and can only be terminated if the authorities are satisfied the offender no longer poses a threat to the community. The court considered the principles and purposes of the Sentencing Act 2002, including accountability, denunciation, deterrence, protection of the community, and rehabilitation. The court found the aggravating factors to include the age disparity between the offender and the victim, premeditation, the length of the offending, and the victim impact. The court found mitigating factors such as the offender's guilty plea and troubled background, but did not find the offender genuinely remorseful. The court ultimately decided that a sentence of preventive detention was necessary to protect the community from the high risk the offender posed, given the offender's history of serious offending and failure to comply with previous sentences and orders.

The final orders of the court were that Nicholas Brian Wyatt be sentenced to preventive detention, with a minimum term of five years' imprisonment, on the charges of meeting a young person following sexual grooming and sexual conduct with a young person under 16 years of age.

Orders