Havelock North man stomped on stomach of woman who was 13 weeks pregnant

Open Justice reporter·NZ Herald·

28 Apr, 2022 04:40 AM3 mins to read

Judge Bridget Mackintosh sentenced Joshua Buckman to seven months of home detention. Photo / NZME

Methamphetamine caused the downfall of deer velvet farmer Joshua David Buckman, who has been sentenced to seven months of home detention for domestic violence.

During one attack, Buckman, 36, swung a woman round by her ankles and stomped on her stomach knowing she was 13 weeks pregnant.

During Buckman's appearance in Napier District Court on Thursday, defence counsel Matthew Phelps said he was a young man from a good family but methamphetamine had been a "key driver" in the unravelling of his life.

Judge Bridget Mackintosh said Buckman was from a background that "would not ordinarily lend itself to this behaviour", but he got involved with methamphetamine after he offered his farm as a training environment and it was brought onto his property by gang-associated trainees.

Buckman's appearance in court on Thursday came after he pleaded guilty to assault with intent to injure, assault on a person in a family relationship, possession of 1g of methamphetamine, possession of ammunition and escaping police custody.

The Crown summary of facts said Buckman got angry with his victim when she smashed a meth pipe in frustration at his Havelock North home on November 26, 2020.

He yelled at her, called her obscene names and struck her from behind in the lower back with either his foot or his knee.

The force of the strike threw her into the air and she was winded when she landed on the ground. She also suffered a cut between her eyebrows.

On January 12, 2021, the woman agreed to move in with Buckman.

Two days later, he arrived home at 8am and she confronted him about his absence overnight.

Buckman got angry and punched her in the right eye, knocking her to the ground and bruising her. He stomped on her stomach, knowing she was three months pregnant.

He held her around the neck and lifted her upright. The woman wet herself and begged him to stop hurting her.

Buckman grabbed her arms and pushed her around the room before lifting her off the ground by the ankles and swinging her around, knocking her into various items.

When he dropped her, she lay screaming on the floor and Buckman took out his phone and filmed her, telling her how "crazy" she was. The woman felt humiliated, the Crown summary said.

The woman sustained bruising to her arms, legs, eye and body.

The court heard that Buckman had spent 53 days in custody on remand and time on restricted bail.

Judge Mackintosh gave him a sentencing credit for that, for his guilty pleas, and "honest efforts" he had already made towards rehabilitation, which included a stopping-violence programme imposed when the woman took out a protection order against him.

The judge sentenced him to seven months of home detention with conditions that included alcohol and drugs counselling.