A Masterton man praised by police as a domestic-violence success story has been jailed for the vicious beating of his partner as she slept.
Duane Charles Haeata, 45, hugged one of his sons at the Masterton District Court yesterday before being led away by police to begin a sentence of two years and three months.
The former gang member and Stopping Violence campaigner pleaded guilty in August to one charge of wounding with intent to injure. It was his 149th criminal conviction.
Haeata had 148 previous convictions, including 15 for assault and two for kidnapping, but had recently been working with the police and Masterton's Stopping Violence Services to help other offenders.
"You had been doing some really good things in this community prior to this offending," Judge Susan Thomas said.
