Kerre Woodham: Let's move on

Some media organisations must be wondering what on earth they'll do to fill their pages and their airtime now that Tony Veitch has pleaded guilty to kicking his ex-girlfriend.

Editors around the country would have been rubbing their hands in gleeful anticipation at the prospect of juicy details of Tony and Kristin's tumultuous relationship being exposed in court as the prosecution and defence fought for months for the favours of the jury.

And now all that's been denied with both the prosecution and defence agreeing to drop six charges of assault and Veitch pleading guilty to injuring his girlfriend with careless disregard for her safety.

There are some who believe that Veitch's sentence - a conviction; 300 hours of community service, seven months' probation and a $10,000 fine - is getting off lightly.

They want him to show more contrition, more remorse and they have vowed that they will never ever watch him on television or listen to him on the radio if he's re-employed by any media organisation.

There are others who believe that paying his ex the $150,000 she requested, losing all of his jobs and being convicted of domestic assault by the courts is punishment enough, and that they'd love to see him back on air.

As one woman said, if every person convicted of domestic violence was denied the chance to work again, there'd be thousands of men on the dole. I'm amazed at the number of women who rang talkback to say that Kristin must have provoked him.

I know women can be lippy, bitchy, cruel and irrational cows. In my bad old days, I was one of them. Nothing, however, can justify kicking a woman in the back. Or anyone in the back for that matter, unless your own physical safety is at risk.

Tony may well have been punished severely when you look at other high-profile people who've been convicted of domestic violence charges yet are still able to earn a living and are protected by name suppression.

There may well have been dark forces at work, conspiring to bring him down - how else to explain the anonymous sources quoted by newspapers that should have known better and the extraordinarily speedy arrival of TV3 to the Veitch home when police conducted a search warrant?

But that does not mitigate or excuse his actions. None of this would have happened if he hadn't lashed out.

I look forward to seeing the same sort of treatment meted out to other high-profile men who "lash out". Maybe then the message will start getting through that resorting to violence against anyone - man, woman and child - is unacceptable.

There are no winners in this case. Kristin Dunne-Powell certainly wouldn't have derived any satisfaction in seeing a sad and sick part of her life put under the spotlight.

I hope that if there is anything to be learned from this case it's that violence is never, ever OK. And that if you're in a dysfunctional relationship, get out. And that work isn't everything.

Throughout his interviews, Tony's talked about how in the days leading up to the assault, his work meant everything to him and that he felt driven to take every job and be the best in his field.

It's just a shame he had to lose everything to find out what is truly important in life - his wife, his friends and his family.

He's paid the price for his actions, and now he deserves to get on with his life.