Geoffrey Marsters was jailed for three years and 10 months at the Christchurch District Court for a prolonged attack against his partner which started after she asked him to get a job. Photo / supplied
Geoffrey Marsters was jailed for three years and 10 months at the Christchurch District Court for a prolonged attack against his partner which started after she asked him to get a job. Photo / supplied
A man who bit and strangled his partner also told her he would tie her up and chop her into pieces, claiming she was the devil for not following the “correct” form of Christianity.
Geoffrey Marsters, 43, appeared at the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday, where he was jailed for three years and 10 months for the attack, which started when his partner suggested he get a job.
He claimed it was self-defence but attacked her several times during the day and wouldn’t let her leave the house until the next morning.
Marsters was charged with assault with intent to injure, injuring with intent to injure, assault with a weapon, a representative charge of impeding breathing and another representative charge of threatening to kill.
According to the summary of facts, he had moved in with his partner in Christchurch and was not working.
On July 30 at 2pm, the pair were talking about their future goals when she suggested he get a job to help pay the bills, as she was the only one providing for the family.
Geoffrey Marsters appeared at the Christchurch District Court for the prolonged attack against his partner in 2022. Photo / George Heard
Marsters became furious and began yelling at her, claiming he had a “grand plan” and the benefit was enough to support both of them.
She tried to calm him down and, when that didn’t work, threw a book at him in frustration.
Marsters jumped on the woman, grabbing fists full of her hair and ripping it out. He then put his elbow on her throat, preventing her from breathing.
As she tried to push him off with her free hand, Marsters began biting her hand. She began to cry, pleading with him, saying she was sorry and loved him.
Marsters put both of his hands around her throat and began squeezing, telling her: “I’m going to kill you.”
The court heard the woman struggled to breathe for about a minute and began to lose consciousness. She managed to roll on her side and began pleading with Marsters.
He told her she was now “in isolation” – she wasn’t allowed to leave the house and he took her phone off her. She said she had work that evening and was worried about losing her job.
About 9pm Marsters began placing wooden boards on the door. He told the woman: “You’re not going to work. I make enough on the benefit for what we need.”
He gave her phone back so she could tell her work she wasn’t going in and could message her children. He then took it off her again and confined her to the bedroom area of the house.
About midnight, he began yelling at her and grabbed a chopping board knife.
He took her Latter-day Saints Bible off her bookshelf and told her she was the devil for believing in Mormonism and that it wasn’t the “correct form of Christianity”.
When she woke the next morning, Marsters was asleep next to her. She asked if she was allowed to leave as she needed to pick up her children, which he agreed to. She took her phone and keys and left.
She suffered bruising and swelling and had two lumps on her head as well as bite marks on her hand.
When police questioned Marsters, he admitted the attack but claimed it was self-defence.
In sentencing Marsters, Judge Raoul Neave said he grew up in an environment where he observed domestic violence and ended up in state-run institutions.
Reports showed he turned to substance abuse when he was young and suffered from some aspects of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Judge Neave took these factors into account when imposing a sentence. However, he expressed his concerns that Marsters still failed to comprehend the effects of his offending on his victim.
