A Napier man has been jailed for seven years for two attacks.
In one he broke the blade of a knife while stabbing his former girlfriend, and in the other he ran a vehicle off a highway and took to it with an axe.
Appearing in the High Court in Napier yesterday, Shawn Nicholas Harding, 27, was sentenced to five years on a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to the woman, who was attacked at home in front of their children on October 14.
He was sentenced to a further two years on two charges of assault with a weapon resulting from the road rage attack which happened on August 30, and a concurrent term of six months for wilful damage.
He pleaded guilty to all charges.
Sentencing judge Justice MacKenzie said preventive detention was not the appropriate sentence for Harding, who had a history of violence and intimidation, and ordered him to serve a minimum of four years and eight months.
Harding had spent more than a week on the run after the attack on his former partner, but effectively surrendered when he walked into the Napier Courthouse, carrying a bag of clothes, and sat down in the public gallery during a court session.
In the High Court yesterday, defence counsel Tony Snell focused mainly on Harding's attack on his former partner, and said their breakup had come at a time when he had been making progress with many issues in his life, and believed he had "won a battle with P".
It was clear Harding was depressed at the time, and was remorseful over what had happened in the attack, with some indications that he may have been contemplating suicide.
Harding had not taken any weapon to the house, but grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed his ex-partner five times, according to a summary produced by the Crown.
The judge noted that his violence was predominanly associated with the use of amphetamine.
In the earlier incident, Harding had been passed by vehicle on State Highway 2 and took up a chase which ended when he rammed the vehicle off the road. As the driver fled, he attacked the vehicle with an axe.
Drug-affected knife attacker jailed for seven years
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