Woman jailed for street stabbing in Hastings

A woman was sentenced to jail in Napier District Court after a stabbing in Hastings. Photo File

A young Hawke's Bay woman stabbed her boyfriend in a Hastings street despite attempts by her father and passersby to stop her.

The details of the attack in September last year were revealed in Napier District Court on Tuesday as Atareta Kingi, aged 19 at the time of the incident, appeared for sentence before Judge Bridget Mackintosh.

She had pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to cause injury.

Judge Mackintosh sentenced her to 20 months' jail with release conditions extending a further six months to enable further rehabilitative steps to deal with drug and other issues and the impact of other background difficulties.

An application for home detention made on her behalf by defence counsel Eric Forster was declined by the Judge, who said it was not appropriate in the circumstances, which included Kingi absconding while on electronically-monitored bail while awaiting sentence.

She "went on the run" and failed to attend the sentencing which had been scheduled for July 21, said Crown prosecutor Lara Marshall.

She had been returned to custody when found and been confined about four-and-a-half months, which was taken into account in determining the sentence.

According to a summary, Kingi was with her boyfriend, aged 29, in the Hastings CBD late on the Saturday afternoon of September 7, 2019. They argued about money and the man walked away.

It said the woman got into her father's vehicle, picked-up a small red kitchen knife, told her father she was going to stab the man and made her father follow the man in the vehicle.

Her father tried to stop her getting out of the vehicle but she was able to reach the man on the corner of Market St North and Heretaunga St West, and argued with him again before stabbing him in the shoulder.

Members of the public intervened to stop the attack, police were called, the woman was arrested and first-aid administered to the man who was later estimated to have lost a litre of blood as a result of the injury.

The Judge highlighted the specific seriousness of the woman's offending as "not spontaneous" with an element of premeditation in that she had told her father what she was going to do.

Asking if she would have to spend all of the 20 months in jail, which was for a charge carrying a possible maximum of seven years, Kingi was told probably not and that she would get help aimed at trying to ensure she did not reoffend.

"Let's hope that some good comes out of it," Judge Mackintosh said.