Balclutha man who beat partner unconscious refuses rehabilitation

Samuel Anderson, 30, may be locked up until August 2023 if he refuses treatment. Photo / Rob Kidd

A Balclutha man who abused his girlfriend has refused to engage in rehabilitation behind bars, the Parole Board heard.

It means 30-year-old Samuel Anderson, who was also convicted of drug offences, will likely serve the entirety of his four-and-a-half-year sentence, which was imposed in the Dunedin District Court in September 2019.

The methamphetamine addict had undertaken drug counselling while at the Otago Corrections Facility and the Parole Board directed him to have a session with a psychologist to consider how his violent tendencies could best be addressed.

However, Anderson was not interested.

He "discontinued" the assessment and said he was "now considering simply serving his whole sentence and would most likely not engage in any future rehabilitation".

Anderson, who had served a prison sentence in 2014 for violence against another woman, began abusing his most recent partner in February 2018.

After head-butting her, knocking her unconscious, he splashed water in her face to revive her so he could continue the onslaught.

He punched her in the face, chipping her tooth.

Weeks later, he was at it again.

He pinned the woman down, pulled her fingers back, tried to gouge her eye, elbowed her in the face, slammed his knee into her tailbone and forced a pillow against her face.

There were also other incidents, the court heard at sentencing, in which Anderson tried to strangle the victim and punched her in the face after threatening to kill her.

She told the court she thought she was going to die and had been left emotionally scarred.

Panel convener Jim Thomson

described Anderson as "polite and compliant" with staff, but said he could not be released without doing violence-prevention treatment.

Corrections also considered a proposed release address unsuitable.

Anderson will see the Parole Board again in June next year; his sentence ends in August 2023.