Jeffrey Cook’s lawyer, Susan Giles, yesterday told the court his first reaction was surprise at how light his small neighbour was. He then rushed to get help from another village resident and asked them to call the police, while he tended to his fallen neighbour with water until the ambulance arrived.
Cook was charged with injuring by an unlawful act and was yesterday sentenced in the Waitākere District Court to six months of community detention.
A fireman for 24 years who later worked in prison rehabilitation, Cook had no prior history of violence or anti-social behaviour, the court heard.
He was very sorry for pushing his neighbour and never intended to cause such serious injury, Giles said in her client’s defence.
His actions that day in November 2021 at the Auckland rest home were out of character and borne out of frustration from a set of “unique circumstances”, she said.
He had a stroke in 2011, which left him with significant cognitive impairment.
In the weeks before the offending, there was a marriage breakdown in his wider family, a close relative was diagnosed with bowel cancer, and his first wife died. These caused a build-up of stress on his limited cognitive abilities, making him aggressive and impulsive, the court heard.
On the day of the incident, he told a probation officer, he saw the victim outside with a tool in his hand and thought the man might be breaking into his unit.
What happened afterwards was something he “very much regrets”, Giles said.
Judge Peter Winter said Cook’s offending was serious but was clearly linked to his diminished intellectual capacity.
Now 74, he had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, showed remorse, and his pre-sentence report showed a low risk of reoffending.
Judge Winter reduced his sentence to six months of community detention with a 7am-7pm curfew, and ordered Cook to pay his victim an emotional harm reparation of $1400.
His request for leave to visit family in Whangaparāoa, however, was declined - his family could come to visit him at the rest home instead.
The judge said his 78-year-old victim’s injury was serious. The fall broke his femur at the hip, which needed surgery, and he had to walk on crutches for some time afterwards.
But both men continued to live next to each other at the retirement village after he was discharged, with Cook serving bail at the address with “no issues”, he said.
Cook sat next to a communication assistant in court to help him understand the proceedings, and was supported by his son in the public gallery.
He was still suffering the effects of his 2011 stroke and was taking six different medications, the judge said.
