Time served for violent assaults on partner

Gisborne Courthouse. File picture by Rebecca Grunwell

THE lawyer of a man who threatened to slit his partner's throat with a butcher's knife has said that a recommendation to forbid the man from contacting her is unrealistic.

Tyrone James Awarau, 27, painter, could expect to be released from prison soon, Judge Cathcart told him.

The judge imposed 13 months for a raft of offences. Awarau had already served most of that sentence while on remand in custody, the court heard.

The charges were four assaults on a female – his partner – threatening to kill her, possession of an offensive weapon (the knife), cultivating cannabis*, and two charges of driving while unlicensed.

He had pleaded guilty to all of them.

The violence began with an incident in Carroll Street, where Awarau’s partner was staying the night. Awarau arrived there with a butcher’s knife, threatening to slit the woman’s throat if she didn’t come out of the house.

He forced his way inside and found her hiding in a rear bedroom. He wanted car keys and ripped her shirt as he tried to find them. He threw her on a bed and choked her, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her along a hallway in front of children. He dragged her outside but saw a man standing there so released her.

The woman ran and locked herself in a car but opened a window after Awarau threatened to smash it with a crowbar.

He again demanded car keys and when she denied having them, he punched her in the head through the window.

A week or so later there was another violent episode between the couple, this time at Te Puia Springs. Awarau punched the woman in the face, giving her a black eye, then immediately left to go to a party.

Counsel Michael Lynch questioned the worth of a recommendation in a Department of Corrections presentence report that Awarau be prevented from associating with the complainant.

Such a condition would be setting Awarau up to fail, Mr Lynch said. It was also contradicted by the comment that she was the only supportive person in his life.

The couple had two young children, Mr Lynch said.

A restorative justice report showed his client was willing to face issues underlying his offending and was genuinely remorseful.

Judge Cathcart agreed the restorative justice report was significant and that the woman’s stance had softened since her original statement. She had originally said Awarau’s behaviour was erratic and unpredictable, scary for her and her children, and that he was a compulsive liar.

The restorative justice report evidenced Awarau’s apology to the woman and the steps he had taken to reform himself.

But while things might now have changed, Awarau needed to understand he was a red-flagged offender whose violence had incorporated choking, which was particularly concerning to authorities, the judge said.

Any further violence by Awarau towards his partner would result in further imprisonment.

*The cannabis charge related to 24 seedlings police found in a fish bin at Awarau’s Waipiro Bay house. He claimed to have found them on a roadside.