Dunedin meth addict jailed for assault, other offending

A man on a "meth-fuelled bender" threatened to send gang members to his girlfriend's home to rape her, a court has heard.

Kyle James Clarke, 28, also vowed to kill the woman and her godchildren, all of which followed a catalogue of violent incidents.

Clarke appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week after pleading guilty to representative charges of assault in a family relationship, threatening to kill, threatening to do grievous bodily harm and causing harm by posting a harmful digital communication,

Despite the three weeks of abuse, Clarke's partner was in court to support him and the pair planned to continue their relationship as the man battled his drug addiction.

Counsel Rhona Daysh said her client had been introduced to cannabis at 14, methamphetamine at 16 and had spent the majority of the past decade in jail.

Following his most recent jail term, Clarke entered a residential rehabilitation facility in Blenheim where he spent nearly five months addressing his problem.

After his discharge, he got a job but "had difficulty adjusting to the real world".

The first six months after rehab were the most likely time for someone to relapse, Daysh said.

And that is what happened.

In April, things went "haywire".

Clarke was back on P and his substance abuse snowballed.

Daysh said he was "tweaking" when the rampage started — a sustained period of drug use resulting in extreme paranoia, confusion, hallucinations and ultimately violence.

On April 26, Clarke called a friend of his partner with whom he suspected she was
having an affair.

When she tried to find out who he was speaking with, he punched her in the thigh then slapped her in the face.

His anger boiled over again within days.

Clarke grabbed the victim by the neck following an argument and the next day pushed her on to a bed before throwing a plastic bottle at her, causing significant bruising to her hand.

After leaving the address, the threats began and got more menacing over the week.

"I will do everything in power to get you before [the police] get me," he told her.

Later, Clarke said he would kill his girlfriend if his benefit was cut.

The same day, over the phone, the defendant claimed he would send Mongrel Mob members to the victim's home to rape her.

Clarke then took to Facebook to reiterate his threats.

On May 12, he posted a selfie along with a message featuring the victim's social-media handle and the suburb in which she lived.

"Win some ... lose some ... wound some ... kill some!" the defendant wrote.

Before he was finally arrested by police, Clarke crashed a friend's car on the Waitaki River Bridge and fled the scene on foot.

He took to Facebook, posting a photo of himself on a rural road, raising his middle finger.

Judge Peter Rollo remarked on the "insightful" letters the defendant had written to the court and accepted the threats were the product of a raging methamphetamine habit, rather than his true feelings.

Clarke was jailed for 14 months, banned from driving for six months and ordered to pay $3800 for the damage from the crash.

A protection order was made in favour of the victim.