Shayna Lennane-Henry became jealous when she found out another woman was spending time with her partner.
When Shayna Lennane-Henry saw her partner with another woman, she launched a lengthy campaign of terror which culminated in the woman being knocked out with a rock.
Lennane-Henry had known the woman for four years when she saw her spending time with her partner, spurring feelings of jealousy.
In 2022, she began sending threatening messages to the woman through social media with one saying she would burn down her house, the Christchurch District Court heard this week.
The summary of facts did not detail how Lennane-Henry knew the woman or the type of relationship she had with Lennane-Henry’s partner.
But according to the summary, matters escalated just over a month later when Lennane-Henry, then 31, saw the woman outside a hotel on Westport’s main street.
She grabbed the woman’s head and drove it into a brick wall twice before tearing out a clump of her hair.
The woman suffered two black eyes and pain to her head as a result
Then on April 24, 2022, the violence culminated when a car chase ensued around 11pm.
Lennane-Henry drove past the woman travelling along Palmerston St and spun around to follow her.
She tailgated the woman who, fearing for her safety, drove to the Westport Police Station.
As she neared, she saw the station’s front door was closed and the lights were turned off so she continued to drive.
Lennane-Henry manoeuvred her vehicle in an attempt to cut the woman off.
The woman sideswiped her to avoid being trapped and drove to Fonblanque St to try and get help.
As she pulled up outside an address, Lennane-Henry stopped behind her, got out and began slashing her tyres.
The woman drove off and Lennane-Henry continued to follow her.
Eventually, in a frantic effort to escape, she reversed into Lennane-Henry’s vehicle but lost traction in the mud of a driveway, causing her car to become immobilised.
Lennane-Henry used the opportunity to blow out the woman’s driver’s side window with a rock and then used the rock to smash her over the head.
The woman climbed across the inside of her vehicle and escaped out the passenger side window, fleeing to a nearby property where she fell unconscious.
She was later hospitalised with facial injuries including grazing and slice wounds. It was noted she had two aging black eyes and broken glass in her foot.
At Lennane-Henry’s sentencing, Judge Katie Elkin described the offending as extreme violence, despite submissions from the defence saying it was moderate.
The judge noted there was use of weapons, hits to the head, and serious injuries.
Crown prosecutor Sean Mallet said Lennane-Henry appeared to lack insight into her offending.
She had justified her behaviour and blamed the woman, he submitted.
“This was gratuitous conduct.”
He accepted some mitigating factors including that Lennane-Henry had children in her care and had entered early guilty pleas.
Defence lawyer Marcus Zintl said Lennane-Henry had been on bail for more than two years and there had been no reoffending.
She had since given birth and stopped using methamphetamine, Zintl said.
Judge Elkin said Lennane-Henry’s criminal history, including some dishonesty and driving matters, was limited.
“This is a significant step up,” noting the extreme nature of the offending she was being sentenced for.
However, the judge took Lennane-Henry’s guilty pleas, her positive conduct while on bail, and the potential effect imprisonment would have on her children into account.
On charges of assault with intent to injure, driving in a dangerous manner, intentional damage and speaking threateningly, Lennane-Henry was then sentenced to six months of community detention and 18 months of intensive supervision.
“It is designed to help you manage your family responsibilities,” Judge Elkin said.
Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the HC Post, based in Whangamata. He was previously deputy editor of Cook Islands News.
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