Wratt v Police

[2018] NZHC 2477

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND WELLINGTON REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA TE WHANGANUI-A-TARA ROHE

CRI-2018-485-55 [2018] NZHC 2477

DARRYL MARK WRATT

v

NEW ZEALAND POLICE

Hearing:	14 September 2018
Appearances:	L A Caris for the Appellant T R Bain for the Respondent
Judgment:	21 September 2018

JUDGMENT OF CULL J

[1]      Mr Wratt breached a protection order twice.  The second time occurred while he was on electronically monitored bail (EM bail) for the first breach.  He pleaded guilty to the two charges of breaching a protection order.1   On 31 July 2018, Judge Johnston sentenced Mr Wratt to two months’ community detention and 12 months’ supervision.2   Mr Wratt’s offer to pay the victim $2,500 in emotional harm reparation was accepted and ordered.

[2]      Mr Wratt appeals his sentence on the basis it is manifestly excessive.   He submits the starting point was too high, the uplifts and discounts imposed were

1      Domestic Violence Act 1993, ss 19(2)(e), 49(1)(b) and 49(3).   Maximum penalty three years’

imprisonment.

2      New Zealand Police v Wratt [2018] NZDC 16214.

WRATT v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2018] NZHC 2477 [21 September 2018]

incorrect and the reparation award was not dealt with properly.   The appropriate sentence, he submits, is supervision.

[3]      The Crown opposes the appeal and submits the sentence imposed was within the available range and, if anything, was lenient.

Factual background

[4]      Mr Wratt and the victim were in a relationship and have two children together. Mr Wratt has a history of offending against the victim and has previously been convicted of assaulting her.  He has also breached the same protection order on three previous occasions (in 2008, 2007 and 2005).

[5]      On 29 March 2005, a final protection order was issued by the District Court against Mr Wratt to protect the victim.

[6]      The first charge of breaching this protection order stemmed from Mr Wratt’s actions between 20 October 2017 and 28 March 2018. On 20 October 2017, Mr Wratt noticed a friend request on the victim’s Facebook and became convinced that she was having an affair.  He later demanded that he have access to all of her social media platforms and email addresses to check that she was not in contact with other men. His behaviour got increasingly worse as he sought to control the victim’s life, including installing a phone tracking application (although there is some dispute about this) and demanding to know where she was at any particular time.

[7]      Mr Wratt constantly verbally abused the victim, calling her derogatory names and at times doing so in front of their children.  During the week leading up to police intervention in March 2018, Mr Wratt would constantly wake the victim and interrogate her about items he had found on her computer hard drive.  As a result of the continual abuse, the victim became anxious and emotionally drained to the point of resigning from her employment.

[8]      The second charge of breaching the protection order arose from Mr Wratt’s behaviour between 26…