Woman who stabbed Kaikohe man jailed for two years, nine months

A Kaikohe man was choppered to Auckland Hospital with a near fatal stab wound to his neck after being attacked with a kitchen knife by his girlfriend's daughter. Photo / NZME

A woman who nearly stabbed her mother's boyfriend to death with a kitchen knife, has been jailed.

Crystal Reid, 38, got into a heated argument with the man on February 9, this year, after he and her mother had been out drinking.

During the row, Reid got a knife and used it to stab him in the stomach, back, and neck.

He fled the Kaikohe house and collapsed on a neighbour's front lawn.

People at the scene kept pressure on his wounds while they waited for a rescue helicopter to arrive.

He was flown to Auckland Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery, one of the stabs to his neck having narrowly missed an artery.

In a victim impact statement prepared for Reid's sentencing in the Kaikohe District Court, the man said he believed he would make a full recovery, albeit he would always have scars.

He had been constantly monitored for three months due to the risk of the wounds rupturing as they healed and is still undergoing rehabilitation.

The incident "tipped his life upside down", the man said.

Judge Greg Davis jailed Reid for two years and nine months and gave her a three-strike warning.

She had pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after a sentence indication from the judge for a starting point of five and a half years imprisonment with a full 25 per cent plea discount.

The judge said the issue to be determined at the sentencing hearing was whether there should be further discounts for factors such as those raised in a cultural and a presentence report and the level of them.

He said the cultural report showed a clear link between the offending and intergenerational trauma and abuse Reid and her siblings witnessed and experienced themselves growing up..

He gave a 25 per cent discount for the matters raised in the report, including Reid's use of drugs and alcohol, her background circumstance, and some mental health issues. It was 5 per cent more than the 20 per cent sought by Reid's counsel, Catherine Cull.

Alcohol, drugs, and abuse were prevalent in Reid's upbringing. Violence was normalised and a "way of life", the judge said.

Reid's parents were together most of the children's lives until their father died. After that their mother had a series of other male partners who continued those same patterns of abuse.

"When a person is exposed to a constant diet of violence, it's fair to say one could also be exposed to the response to that violence and that for me is what underpins the cultural report," the judge said.

He invited the author of the cultural report to speak to what Davis described as her "warts and all" account of Reid's life.

The writer said it was difficult for people to talk about their pasts and she thanked Reid for her honesty during their interview.

She also interviewed Reid's mother, who confirmed the upbringing Reid described and gave an insight into her own background and how that negatively impacted Reid.

The writer said Reid used alcohol and drugs to combat issues her whole life but all that did was put a lid on things and that lid was now blowing.

Unfortunately, this incident was a result of not getting help when she needed it.