Justin Matthew McAllister

A woman was left with 73 bruises after a three-hour assault by Justin Matthew McAllister that included strangling her unconscious with a rope.

The 40-year-old (pictured) pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court today to charges of injuring the woman with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and breaching a protection order the woman took out after the assault.

Judge Jane Farish remanded McAllister in custody for sentencing on July 4. She asked for a pre-sentence report, and referred the case for a possible restorative justice meeting where he would meet the woman if she is willing, and apologise to her.

The Crown said McAllister and the victim knew each other.

About two hours before she came to his house in St Albans on June 6, 2017, McAllister was recorded on his own security camera cutting a length of white rope. He burned the ends of the rope and placed it in his pocket.

Crown prosecutor Claire Boshier said that soon after the woman arrived, about 8.30pm, McAllister struck her on the right temple and kicked her on the hip while she was on the floor.

While she crawled to a couch, he jumped onto her back by driving his knees into her, and then pushed her head into the floor.

He pushed her face down into a pillow and slapped and punched her to the head.

When he looked through her phone, he became upset because she had told a friend that he had previously hit her. He punched her in the stomach and head, causing her to fall again, this time onto a table.

This part of the three-hour assault was recorded on camera, but the pair then went out of view. Even so, there is a view of McAllister kicking.

He then took the rope out of his pocket and tied it around the victim’s neck. He used the rope to pull her off the couch and onto her hands and knees. The woman put her hand into the rope to make space to breathe.

He told her that every time he thought she was lying he would tighten the rope. He tightened it six to seven times until it was so tight that she could not breathe and passed out.

When she regained consciousness, the beating continued, with McAllister telling her she deserved it. He covered her mouth and nose with his hands until she passed out again.

The pair come back into the camera’s view at 11.14pm, when McAllister drags her and appears to smother her face with a jacket. He then stands over her and kicks her. At 11.35am, a white rope is seen thrown into view while the pair are out of shot.

He then made her drive him to see some people, but found a message from a friend on her phone which led to more punches.

He made her drop him home and told her that she had half an hour to collect her suitcase from a friend’s house. When the friend saw her injuries, she told her she could stay.

McAllister sent the victim a threatening video message about her family a few days later and sent her a letter after that – in breach of the protection order she took out against him.

Miss Boshier said that after the assault the victim had swelling to her hands, feet, and arms, and a doctor counted 73 bruises. She had a broken rib.

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A gang member asked by two women to rob an ex-partner of one of them, admitted a robbery charge in the Christchurch District Court today.

Kenneth Daniel Hawkins, admitted that on April 19, 2017 he went to an address in Kaiapoi to steal some property for one of the women.

He went wearing his Mongrel Mob gang insignia, and said he was there for money, tobacco, and drugs.

The victim showed Hawkins his wallet saying he did not have any money, and Hawkins took the wallet off him and left.

Hawkins told the police that he was used by some other people to commit the offence and felt bad about it happening.

Judge Jane Farish remanded him in custody for sentencing on July 11.

The two women involved, Stacey Irene Sumner, 31, and Nicola Christy Geddis, 36, were sentenced to home detention terms in February 2018. They pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to commit the robbery.

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Mongrel Mob members will spend years behind bars for a prison bashing that lasted 38 seconds.

The five-on-four attack in the E Block exercise yard at Christchurch Men’s Prison left one victim with a broken jaw and another with a twisting fracture of the leg.

Three of the Mob members pleaded guilty just before their trial was due to begin in December, and they received their jail terms from Christchurch District Court Judge Paul Kellar today. Two pleaded guilty earlier and were sentenced separately.

Judge Kellar said the fact that the assault took place between groups in prison “makes matters worse”.

The incident happened on June 22, 2016, as the culmination of tensions between the two groups.

Adam Travis, 42, and his son Reggie Kenneth Roberts, 22, of Aranui, pleaded guilty to charges of intentionally injuring the victim whose jaw was broken. Roberts also admitted assaulting a woman in a separate incident, while he had a modified golf club as a weapon.

Reweti, 35, a fibre optic technician, admitted a more serious charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to injure. He had attacked a separate victim, punching and kicking him and breaking his leg.

The prison yard incident was mostly recorded on closed circuit video, and lasted just 38 seconds.

Judge Kellar jailed Travis for two years five months, noting his efforts at rehabilitation while on remand. He has done an alcohol and drug rehabilitation course, a first aid course, and obtained certificates for training through the Open Polytechnic. The judge said Travis had now realised he did not want to keep on spending spells in prison.

He jailed Reweti for three years, noting that he was already serving a sentence for injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and kidnapping.

He jailed Roberts for a total of three years six months for the two violent incidents.

All the men have Mongrel Mob connections, and have histories including convictions for violence.

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A judge wished a sword-armed robber luck as he began a two-year ten-month jail term for a raid on a West Coast petrol station.

Christchurch District Court Judge Paul Kellar described 38-year-old Fane Christopher Dudley as a man of many talents, according to the probation report prepared for his sentencing.

Dudley pleaded guilty in January to a charge of robbing the BP Greymouth on July 8, 2017, while armed with a samurai sword.

He has done a short rehabilitation course while in custody, and had been attending AA in Greymouth. Judge Kellar listed the talents outlined in the pre-sentence report, including abilities in the building, fishing, and film industries, security work and cheffing.

He has been on a sickness benefit because of injuries and depression, but he had a period with no convictions from 2015 until his robbery last year.

He entered the service station at 3.15am wearing a hooded top, black gloves, and a black balaclava covering his face, the court was told.

He started yelling, “Give me your f—g money now, hurry up”, then drew a samurai sword. He told the victim to go to the till and give him the money.

Dudley grabbed money out of the till, and ordered the victim to put more notes in his pocket.

He told the man to lie on the ground and count to 100, with threats to kill him if he didn’t comply.

Dudley left on foot down Tainui Street with about $1400 cash.

Judge Kellar said he had been impressed with the robbery victim who had “handled a stressful situation rather well”.

Defence counsel Marcus Zintl urged the judge to reduce Dudley’s sentence for his genuine remorse and empathy with the victim. He also urged a reduction for Dudley’s willingness to meet the victim at a restorative justice conference, even though it was not able to go ahead.

Judge Kellar agreed, jailing Dudley for two years ten months, ordering $1400 reparations, and wishing him luck as he began the sentence. Dudley had been given a first strike warning under the system that imposes heavier penalties on repeat violent offenders.

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A supporter in the public seating barked like a dog and another shouted Nazi Mongrel Mob salutes as an alleged police pursuit driver was remanded in custody overnight.

Police opposed bail for the 27-year-old man they allege drove at officers trying to lay road spikes across QEII Drive on Tuesday afternoon.

Aranui man Chad Ian Taylor was remanded to Thursday by Community Magistrate Leigh Langridge in the Christchurch District Court at an appearance by video-link today.

During the one-day remand, police will check an address where Taylor proposes to live if he is granted bail. He is expected to apply for bail at his appearance on Thursday.

Police allege the incident took place on the motorway near Marshland Road in Avondale, about 12.20pm, after a pursuit.

They say the Subaru Impreza car involved had been unlawfully taken and have also charged Taylor with reckless driving on QEII Drive, failing to stop for a police car using its lights and sirens while he was speeding, and driving while disqualified.

He is charged with assaulting a woman police officer by using a car as a weapon. Police said the officers deploying the road spikes were not injured.

Taylor has entered no pleas.

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Name suppression has lapsed for a teenager charged over a serious assault at a Northcote property in February.

The 19-year-old charged can now be identified as Marcus Hirini, who has pleaded not guilty and elected trial by jury.

Christchurch District Court Judge Tom Gilbert today remanded the case for a pre-trial call-over on June 22, which may set a trial date.

Hirini denies the charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He has had name suppression since his arrest after the incident at 2am on February 17, at a house in Northcote Road. The alleged 43-year-old victim was hospitalised with critical injuries after the incident.

The Crown had been granted the suppression order, but prosecutor Shivani Dayal said it no longer sought the order to continue, and Judge Gilbert recorded that it had lapsed.

Hirini was remanded on continued bail.

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An elderly Jack Russell terrier named Skipper was stabbed in the neck after a “joking” discussion about whether his age and health meant he should be euthanised.

The stabber, 43-year-old Raymond Kilgour, who is not the dog’s owner, admitted ill-treatment of the animal at an appearance in the Christchurch District Court.

Judge Tony Couch remanded Kilgour for sentencing on May 31. He remanded the case for a potential restorative justice meeting between Kilgour and the dog’s owner. He ordered no pre-sentence report but made it clear Kilgour would face the claim for $1311 veterinarian treatment fees as part of the sentence.

The incident took place on the evening of July 13, 2017, when Kilgour was drinking with his friend, the owner of the Jack Russell, at the friend’s address in Waltham.

Canterbury SPCA prosecutor Heather McKenzie said the owner jokingly discussed stabbing Skipper to death because of his age and health. There was a filleting knife on the table and Kilgour was playing with it.

About 11.30pm, the owner heard Skipper yelp and saw Kilgour standing over the dog and holding the knife. Skipper had been stabbed in the neck and shoulder area.

The owner arranged help from a friend to get the dog to an after-hours vet who found a “single large linear wound” through the shoulders muscles, reaching the ribs. He needed stitches, management of a drain, pain relief, and anti-biotic treatment for the next 14 days.

Kilgour said the owner had asked him to euthanise Skipper. He did not want to but was persuaded to try it, he claimed. He said he felt really had afterwards and left. The owner disputed that, saying they were laughing and joking and he never seriously requested that the dog he stabbed.

Kilgour’s defence counsel Rupert Ward told the court that Skipper had recovered and was still alive.

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A woman needed surgery and 20 stitches after a neighbour’s dog jumped the fence and tore into her leg in her own front yard.

Three days after the attack at a Barrington Street property, the American Bulldog, Chase, was taken to a veterinarian’s surgery and euthanised.

The neighbour, Shaun Leonard Dennis, 38, has admitted a charge of owning a dog that caused serious injury.

Christchurch District Court Judge Tony Couch said: “This is a serious example of this type of offence. Clearly, the victim was seriously injured.”

He remanded Dennis on bail for sentencing on August 3, with a probation assessment of his suitability for home or community detention.

The case will also be referred for a possible restorative justice meeting where he will have a chance to apologise to the woman who was injured.

Christchurch City Council prosecutor Heather McKenzie said the incident happened about 5.30pm on May 1, 2017, as the woman arrived home from work.

As she went across her front lawn area, the four-year-old tan and white dog started barking and then jumped the waist-high fence from Dennis’ yard.

The dog ran at her, bit on her right calf, just below her knee and started shaking violently, tearing into her. The woman dropped the bag of groceries she was carrying and began screaming.

She tried to grab the dog’s collar to get him away but he latched onto her left leg, throwing his head around and tearing into her.

Dennis jumped the fence and chased the dog away. He grabbed the dog and threw him over the fence, but the dog jumped back. Dennis then put him back over the fence.

Dennis then helped the woman into the house where her husband phoned for an ambulance.

The woman had surgery, required 20 stitches, and was off work for more than two weeks.

When he was interviewed the day after the attack, Dennis admitted Chase had attacked the woman, but he was unwilling to surrender the dog. He took the dog to the local vet to be put down on May 4.

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A Nelson man who allegedly failed to stop for police in two pursuits has been remanded in custody after a Christchurch court appearance.

No bail application was being made for Andrew David Hunter, 32, the duty lawyer Philip Watts told Christchurch District Court Judge Tony Couch.

The judge remanded Hunter in custody for an appearance by video-link on May 25, when he will be expected to enter pleas to the charges.

Hunter has been charged with dangerous driving on Beach Road in Ashburton and on the Weka Pass Road in North Canterbury following the two pursuits.

He also faced two charges of failing to stop for police cars flashing lights, possession of a taser, and stealing $52 petrol from BP station at Parklands, Christchurch.

Police said Hunter was wanted in Nelson for seven charges, including assault and unlawfully possessing firearms.

The incident began in Waikari, near Culverden, where police attempted to stop the car he was allegedly travelling in soon after midday on Thursday.

They pursued the car, but abandoned it for safety reasons, and they say the car was later used in a petrol drive-off theft in Parklands.

Police were told Hunter was at an address in rural Ashburton, and that led to another chase through the town. The car stopped in Tinwald and the driver was arrested.

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A judge has taken a grip on the life of an offender deported from Australia with a manslaughter conviction, and will keep a close watch on him for a year.

Christchurch District Court Judge Jane Farish said that Ross Dylen Hunt, 30, kept breaching the Returning Offenders legislation by drinking because he was “lonely and despondent”.

He faced sentencing today for his fourth breach of the order since being sent back to New Zealand in May 2017.

Defence counsel Jessica Bibby said: “The majority of his family are back in Australia, including his two children, and he has found the transition incredibly difficult.” He now had some support, and an address where he could live.

Judge Farish described his treatment in New Zealand as “crazy”, because his rehabilitation needs were not being met.

Rehabilitation was put on hold whenever Hunt was taken into custody and he had not had an assessment by a departmental psychologist nor an alcohol and drug assessment.

She ruled out imprisonment immediately, though Hunt had been remanded in custody by another judge in March when he admitted charges of breaching the order by consuming alcohol, wilful damage, being unlawfully in a yard, breaching prison release conditions, and failing to attend court while on bail.

She said a jail sentence would mean he would eventually be released, and then his release conditions would expire, and nothing would have been done. She preferred an intensive supervision sentence.

Hunt was released from prison in Christchurch in January into emergency accommodation at a motel but refused to attend the doctor and WINZ appointments arranged for him, and within days he had disappeared to Wellington.

In the early hours of January 14, he was at a Wellington house that was unoccupied and being renovated.

He entered a room at the back and left his trousers and underwear inside. He then went onto a decking and smashed two windows to get into a bedroom, causing cuts to his hand and leg.

He was bashing on the front door when the police arrived. He was showing signs of recent drug use, and he tested positive for alcohol.

In 2011, Hunt was convicted by a jury of the manslaughter of a Caboolture father, Allan John Wort, 42, who was killed in a fight in northern Brisbane. Hunt had been acquitted in an earlier trial of the murder of Mr Wort, but the jury had been unable to agree on a manslaughter verdict.

He was found guilty at the second trial of being party to a common cause to inflict the fatal injury.

The charges arose from an incident in 2008 when two groups argued and fought at the Centenary Lakes parkland. Mr Wort was kicked and punched as he lay on the ground and he was then dumped face down in the lake. Hunt was jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Judge Farish today placed Hunt on intensive supervision for a year while she monitors his progress with monthly reports. She ordered that he been seen by a department psychologist and have an alcohol and drug assessment, and undertake treatment or counselling as directed. She also ordered him to pay $749 reparation for the windows he broke.

She gave him this chance, but also warned him that if he did not abide by the sentence, she would resentence him to a jail term.

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Ross Dylen Hunt was a man alone when he landed back in New Zealand last May after years in prison in Australia for manslaughter, says the Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Society.

PARS Canterbury manager Helen Murphy understands why things went wrong for the 30-year-old.

She believes that he had spent so long in prison that he was lacking social skills and he was also sent to New Zealand lacking any family support.

She said Hunt’s Samoan family was living in Australia and is still there while he faced deportation after serving his sentence for a 2008 manslaughter in northern Brisbane.

“Normally, he probably would have gone back straight home to his mum and family and they would have put a few restraints in place. In fact, he arrived back here with nobody.”

Hunt was deported under the Australian policy for overseas offenders, but he had not lived in New Zealand for a long time and he had no family there at all. His children were also left behind in Australia and according to Christchurch District Court Judge Jane Farish that all left him feeling “lonely and despondent”.

PARS met him when he arrived. “We were there to help him and he did have the support there,” said Murphy. “However, he’s probably been one of the ones who has struggled the most.”

There were repeated breaches of the restrictions placed on him in New Zealand under the Returning Offenders legislation, and that led to prison.

When he was released again in January in Christchurch, he was to go into emergency accommodation at a motel but refused to attend the doctor and WINZ appointments arranged for him, and within days he had disappeared to Wellington where he was picked up after drunken incident at an unoccupied house within a few days.

He was bashing on the house’s front door when the police arrived. He was showing signs of recent drug use, and he tested positive for alcohol.

In 2011, Hunt was convicted by a jury of the manslaughter of a Caboolture father, Allan John Wort, 42, who was killed in a fight in northern Brisbane. Hunt had been acquitted in an earlier trial of the murder of Mr Wort, but the jury had been unable to agree on a manslaughter verdict.

He was found guilty at the second trial of being party to a common cause to inflict the fatal injury.

Murphy said she wanted people to get “the bigger picture”. After being released from years in prison, he had been dropped off in a strange land without all the supports that would normally be present.

Now Judge Farish has taken an interest in the case, releasing Hunt on intensive supervision and judicially monitoring him with regular supports for the next year. On Tuesday, she ordered that he been seen by a department psychologist, have an alcohol and drug assessment, and undertake treatment or counselling as directed during the year of supervision.

He had admitted another breach of the returning offenders order by consuming alcohol, wilful damage, being unlawfully in a yard, breaching prison release conditions, and failing to attend court while on bail.

Murphy said that PARS did everything in its power to see that people were supported. “But if they choose not to engage or co-operate, that is their choice,” she said. Hunt had “done a runner from Christchurch.”

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A trawler skipper has been fined $2000 for the grounding that left The Lady Sarah wrecked on Kaitorete Spit in December 2016.

The 22m vessel was a total loss. It remained on the shingle shore near Lake Ellesmere for two weeks before it was broken into pieces and moved to a contractor’s yard.

Skipper Christopher Lee Jarman, 35, who was also an owner of the vessel, pleaded guilty in March to a charge of failing to ensure a proper look-out was kept, which caused unnecessary risk to the vessel and crew.

The prosecution was brought in the Christchurch District Court by Maritime New Zealand.

At Jarman’s sentencing today, prosecutor Rosie Kos said the incident had led to Jarman and two crew leaving the vessel into the water, in the dark, in a swell. “There was potential for injury or loss of life,” she told Judge Raoul Neave.

Defence counsel Peter Dawson said the accident had happened on a calm night when Jarman knew there were no other vessels in the area. Jarman had been fishing for 23 years without incident and was well regarded by his peers.

“He is seen as a young, up-and-coming fisherman who has learned from the events that unfolded on that fateful night,” he said.

Judge Neave said Jarman had clearly allowed himself to be distracted while the vessel did three or four tows off Birdlings Flat, before the grounding.

He was in significant dereliction of his duty to keep a proper look out. His lack of attention had been sporadic but was “not in line with the high obligations placed on a master”.

In imposing the fine of $2000 he took into account Jarman’s good record and the financial impact of the loss of the vessel.

There was no suggestion that Jarman was anything other than a safe and careful trawlerman and he believed it would be an excessive reaction if the authorities took action against him as a holder of an inshore launchmaster certificate.

However, that was not determination he was required to make, said the judge, noting that he regarded the offence as being at the lower end of the scale.

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Luke James Henry

A 43-year-old man is on trial charged with assaulting, kidnapping, and raping a woman he met on an online dating site.

Luke James Henry, pictured, denied nine charges as his week-long High Court trial began before Justice David Gendall and a jury.

Henry admitted two assault charges, which alleged he choked the woman and put his hands around her neck, but he denies four other charges of assaulting her, four charges of rape, and one of kidnapping.

Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes said the two had met through an online dating site, but Henry proved to be “possessive, jealous, and controlling”.

The jury was told that Henry had been convicted of offences relating to the woman, including trespass and intimidation, but continued to contact her. When she spoke to Henry’s mother to get him to stop, Henry sent her a text calling her a “snitch bitch”.

He also sent a text to an associate saying he was going to “track down the woman and smash her over”. He then sent her 88 texts and went to her home.

Mr Hawes said the woman would give evidence by closed-circuit video, and by recorded video interviews, about the incident in September 2016. She would say Henry had taken away an alarm system, her cellphone, and landline, and told her she was a “hostage” at her house.

She would say he raped her several times, and she had not fought back because “putting up a fight was not going to help her”, Mr Hawes said. Acquiescence to sex because of fear was “not true consent”. The woman would also say she was assaulted and strangled.

After midnight, when an associated texted Henry to ask what he was up to, he replied: “I’m holding someone against their will.”

The woman eventually got a message out to someone who could help, and the police arrived. Henry sped away from the property in a car and the police abandoned the pursuit because of the danger, but he was found and arrested two days later.

The trial is continuing.

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Hip-hop artist Scribe – real name Malo Ioane Luafutu – has accepted he breached his bail with an unauthorised change of address, but police have not sought to have him held in custody.

The 37-year-old was on bail pending sentencing next week on a charge of possession of methamphetamine after he was found guilty at a trial in March. On May 23, defence counsel Elizabeth Bulger will seek a discharge without conviction for Luafutu.

He was picked up by Christchurch police today and accepted that he had breached the residence condition of his bail, and the breach has been “certified” – recorded on his history – at an appearance before Judge Raoul Neave.

However, the police said it was his first bail breach of this type and accepted the change to a new address. They agreed that he could be released on bail again. Duty lawyer Kiran Paima passed Judge Neave a note of the new bail address and said it was not being read out in open court.

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Home detention has been ruled out for a two-time child abuse pornography offender who has now been found with another 29,380 images.

Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O’Driscoll declined to order a home detention assessment for Corey Andrew Challis, a 34-year-old labourer from Wainoni, who admitted two charges yesterday.

That means he faces jail time, nine years after he received a community work and supervision sentence for similar offending.

After he pleaded guilty to six child pornography charges in 2009, he was kicked in the shin and verbally abused by someone who had been sitting in the public gallery.

Judge O’Driscoll remanded Challis on bail for sentencing on August 8. Department of Internal Affairs prosecutor Heather McKenzie said the department did not oppose bail pending sentencing.

Defence counsel Kerry Cook said that during the remand, Challis would continue to undergo psychological counselling to progress his rehabilitation, at his own expense. “There is a strong public interest in him continuing to do so.”

The court was told that between October 2016 and March 2017, Challis acquired and stored images and video-clip files depicting the sexual abuse and exploitation of young girls on a laptop computer that he used for work. He also copied files to a portable hard disk drive, from the laptop and from an older computer he had at home.

The files listed in the charges were on the laptop, and on the external hard drive.

Over 11,000 files depicted the sexual exploitation of girls as young as five, over 450 video clip files were found showing girls as young as eight undressing and performing sexual acts.

When he was interviewed, Challis admitted the offending. He said he searched for child sexual exploitation material online and would download it for his own sexual gratification. He agreed that he engaged in sexual fantasy involving young girls. He said he had been viewing material featuring young girls for at least five years.

He agreed that his viewing of sexual material involving young girls was exploitative, but then qualified this by saying, “If I wasn’t there it would be happening anyway”.

The department said he co-operated with the investigation and gave an honest account of his online activities. The department made a referral to the STOP programme for sexual offenders for him.

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A 23-year-old woman carried out a slash attack on another woman’s face because she believed she was a Japanese spy who was recording her thoughts.

The attacker thought she needed to drink the other woman’s blood, the Christchurch District Court was told at her sentencing on a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The woman, whose name was suppressed, admitted the charge.

The attack took place in Christchurch’s Hillmorton Hospital in April last year while both women were being treated as patients.

Judge Raoul Neave granted the attacker final name suppression because of her history of psychotic episodes. She suffered from abuse in her early life which has left her with post traumatic stress disorder.

The woman has been in custody at Christchurch Women’s Prison since the attack, or under treatment at Hillmorton Hospital where she is being tried on further medication.

Defence counsel Phil Shamy said the woman did not want to return to prison after the sentencing because she was being held in the At Risk Unit, because of the risk of self harm. The unit provides sparse, bare cells and solitary confinement.

The sentencing began with Mr Shamy handing the judge a letter of apology the woman had written to the victim. Psychiatric reports showed she had been suffering from a psychotic episode but not a disease of the mind such as schizophrenia.

He said the recorded interview with the police after the incident showed that when the police officer left the interview room, the woman was “quite clearly engaged in another conversation with other voices”.

Crown prosecutor Sean Mallett urged the judge to impose a sentence of greater than two years, which would mean that the Parole Board would be put in control of managing her release back into the community.

Judge Neave said that the woman had been allowed out of Hillmorton on a leave of absence, when she went to The Warehouse at Barrington Mall and bought a craft knife.

About 8pm the victim was in the toilet at a ward where both were patients at the hospital.

The woman burst into the toilet, pulled out the craft knife and slashed the other woman twice in the face, cutting her below the right ear and under the chin.

The victim needed 21 stitches to the wounds in surgery to repair her face and may be permanently scarred. She was depressed and distressed by the injury and cosmetic surgery was still to be decided.

Judge Neave said the woman admitted the attack and said she believed the victim was a Japanese spy who was recording her thoughts and she needed to drink her blood.

“This occurred during one of your well documented psychotic episodes,” said Judge Neave. The woman had a complex history, which included abuse that left her with post traumatic stress disorder.

The reason she gave, and her behaviour at the interview were all consistent with the attack taking place during a psychotic episode.

He imposed a two-year three-month jail term which will mean she is eligible for release soon, but the release will be considered and managed by the Parole Board.

Mr Shamy asked for final name suppression. He said the woman was now well managed and was not believed to pose a public danger. “She has had an appalling life,” he said. Judge Neave granted the order.

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A 45-year-old North New Brighton man must pay reparations of $5000 for running a red light in Dunedin and smashing into a car transporting four doctors.

In the Christchurch District Court, Philip Daryl McPherson was disqualified from driving for 10 months on four charges of careless driving causing injury.

Two of the doctors were knocked unconscious, and three received serious concussion in the crash on the corner of Stuart and London Streets, Dunedin, on Christmas Day.

One doctor had to have surgery to remove glass fragments from his arm and had injured knee ligaments. Another had a broken left cheek bone and a gash inside her mouth which needed stitches. A fourth doctor had two broken ribs.

Defence counsel Richard Peters said the reparation figure submitted by the driver and owner of the car, which was spun into a traffic pole in the accident, was excessive, and McPherson had limited means.

Judge Stephen O’Driscoll said all the doctors suffered physical harm, financial loss, and emotional harm.

McPherson was willing to attend a restorative justice meeting with the doctors, but they didn’t want to do so, as they had put this event behind them and wanted to get on with their lives, he said.

Victims frequently had losses and costs which could not be quantified, which they often have to bear the brunt of, Judge O’Driscoll said.

McPherson was remorseful, and it was difficult for a court to quantify emotional harm and emotional loss for victims.

He sentenced McPherson to pay $1000 reparation to the car owner, and an emotional harm payment to all four doctors of $1000 each, and the disqualification from driving.

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An unlicensed builder has admitted doing alterations on a Riccarton house and using forged documents relating to the building consents.

Travis Jansen, of Old School Builders (Christchurch) Ltd, told the property owners that the Christchurch City Council was “a pain to deal with”.

When one of the owners said she wanted the process to be undertaken properly, Jansen said he had a friend in the council who could help in having the necessary consents processed quickly.

Jansen pleaded guilty before Judge David Ruth in the Christchurch District Court to charges of carrying out restricted building work when he was not licensed, doing work without a building consent, using a forged document, and using a forged document to get a financial advantage.

Judge Ruth remanded him at large – no bail was required – for sentencing on August 3. He asked for an assessment of his suitability for home or community detention, and referred the case for a possible restorative justice meeting with the owners.

Jansen was living at Rolleston at the time he was charged. The court was told yesterday that he was now living in Masterton and working in Wanganui.

Christchurch City Council prosecutor Sean Mallett said the house owners engaged him to renovate their kitchen, remove an internal wall, and install a beam into the roof of the house in Pururi Street, Riccarton.

The owners received a bill which included $1436 for “council costs”, referring to the acquisition of the building consent. Jansen showed the owners the building consent documents which were on Christchurch City Council letterhead.

No building consent had been applied for or issued. The invoice was paid in full.

Another $15,000 invoice for the building work was also paid in May 2017.

The work was then done on the house. A building consent was required, but none had been applied for or issued. Jansen was not a licensed builder and was not under the supervision of a practitioner with a licence.

In June 2017, he told the owners that a council inspector had been on site for an hour-and-a-half and the building had passed the inspection.

That same night, the owners noticed problems with the gib board Jansen had installed. They asked him to redo that work, but there was no response.

Three days later, the owner said her father would complete the rest of the work and asking for Jansen to send an itemised list of materials and labour so that she could organise a refund for the remaining work. Jansen sent this through, but said he was still owed $3239.

He emailed through a Code of Compliance Certificate, but it was forged and had not been issued by the council.

Mr Mallett said Old School Builders was removed from the Companies Register on June 20, 2017.

He said Jansen had not responded to a request by the council for an interview.

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A Christchurch transport firm has admitted a workplace safety breach after an accident in which a 52-year-old man was crushed by a bundle of steel.

Mechanic Anthony Mark Moore was killed in the accident at Peter Fletcher Transport Ltd’s yard at Waterloo Drive, Sockburn, in February last year.

The company appeared before Judge David Ruth in the Christchurch District Court and pleaded guilty to the breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

No summary of facts had been agreed ahead of the appearance, so it was not read out in court nor provided for the media. It will be settled before the sentencing hearing for the company.

Prosecutor Heather McKenzie asked for a long remand for the sentencing date, because a full bench of the High Court was about to hear a case which was expected to set sentencing guidelines for prosecutions under the 2015 Act.

Judge Ruth remanded the case to May 31 for a decision on whether it will be referred to a restorative justice meeting between the company and the Mr Moore’s family.

Sentencing has then been set for September 21.

After the accident,  a friend described Mr Moore as “a hell of a great guy, a very thorough mechanic, and a great family man”.

The company issued a statement that his death was “devastating for all of us”.

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After being told to turn up at court with a large cheque or be prepared for an immediate jail term, a man found guilty of vandalising EQC cars has come up with a $15,000 offer.

Russell Taylor Carr, 57, has now been given another three weeks to come up with the funds after his sentencing was delayed for four hours by a clearly cross judge so that he could talk about some serious money.

In those hours, Carr told his defence counsel Nikita Mitskevich that he could come up with $7000 straight away, and if he was given some more time he could get the rest of the money as a loan from a friend. He would rather use that time to get it as a bank loan.

When he was told that, Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O’Driscoll remanded the sentencing to June 11. “I expect the full reparation to be paid then,” he said, granting bail.

At the scheduled morning sentencing, the judge – who found Carr guilty of intentional damage at his trial in February – said the part-retired decorator continued to deny the offending and he believed he would not pay a cent of the reparation if an order was made. And yet, he was planning to travel overseas.

At the trial, the court heard that Carr acknowledged having “quite extensive problems with EQC” and the police alleged that on July 1, 2016, Carr drove his van along Barry Hogan Drive, Addington, and sprayed a liquid in the direction of several EQC cars. Five to seven cars were damaged.

The spraying, apparently with paint stripper, has led to a reparation bill of $14,374, plus testing costs.

Judge O’Driscoll began the morning hearing by saying that he only wanted to know what Carr’s proposal was for reparation.

Mr Mitskevich said Carr was semi-retired but did do some work, if reparation was imposed.

Judge O’Driscoll said: “He’s denying the offending. I don’t believe he’s going to pay it. I want money paid, or a cheque, before I sentence him. He is going overseas for a trip. If he wants to go, I want some meaningful reparation.”

He said that if reparation was paid in full, he would impose a sentence of community work and reparation.

If it were not paid, a electronic sentence to keep Carr at his home would be imposed, but Carr had declined to be assessed for an electronic sentence, he said. “The alternative is a sentence of imprisonment. I’m not playing games with him, and he’s not playing games with me.”

If imprisonment was imposed, then Carr’s overseas trip would be “gone”.

“With his attitude at the moment, I have no confidence that he would pay one cent of reparation if it was left to him,” aid Judge O’Driscoll.

He delayed the sentencing for four hours to give Carr a chance to speak with his lawyer.

He told Carr directly that he could expect immediate imprisonment in the afternoon if he did not come up with the funds. He said: “Bring a bag if there is no reparation being offered.”

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