Man jailed after knife attack on girlfriend

Robert Young punched his girlfriend in the head and held a knife to her throat. Photo / File

A man has been jailed after two attacks on his former girlfriend which saw her left with a broken nose, two black eyes and a 30mm long knife cut under her chin.

Robert William Young, 36, was convicted of injuring with intent to injure and assaulting a female after two altercations with the same victim, in which he punched her in the head and held a knife to her throat.

Yesterday, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison by Judge David Cameron in the Wanganui District Court.

On April 20 last year, the victim, who had been in a relationship with Young, was at house to pick up her eftpos card.

Once there, he refused to give it to her, despite her asking numerous times. He then told her to stay for dinner and he would give it back after that.

Young then left to go to a bottle store, and the victim decided to walk home.

He caught up with her en route and convinced her to come back for dinner, promising he would give back her card.

Once back at the house, they began to argue, and Young grabbed a kitchen knife he had been sharpening in front of her prior to the incident and held it to her throat, cutting her under the chin.

After that, he struck her once in the right side of her head.

When she tried to leave, he told her she wasn't going anywhere, and she started crying.

The victim could not open her eyes and could taste blood. Young attempted to clean up the blood off her face, which was coming out her nose.

The victim's next memory was waking up in Young's bed the next morning and telling him she wanted to leave.

He initially told her she wasn't going anywhere, but relented.

He told her not to tell anyone what he did to her.

The victim walked home and he followed her. When she got inside she would not let him in.

She suffered a 30mm cut under her chin, a broken nose and two black eyes and went to Wanganui Hospital, where she was under observation for six hours.

She later underwent further treatment for her severely fractured nose, including being placed under a general anaesthetic while attempts were made to manipulate her Nasal bone back into place.

When spoken to by police, Young declined to make a statement, but told them the victim was not at his house on that night.

Less than a month later on May 11, while on bail for the earlier offence, the same victim was at Young's house again, where they spent the night socialising.

They slept together and when the victim got up to use the toilet, he became aggressive, pushing her and calling her names.

When she went to put on her clothes, he grabbed her and told her she wasn't going anywhere and pushed her toward the bed.

He then said she could leave out the window, but when she undid the latch, he pushed and shoved her, pulling her into the bed, where he hit her twice on the back with an open hand before throwing her out the door.

She was not injured.

Solicitor Jo Woodcock, appearing for the Crown, said although there was only one punch thrown in the first incident, it caused significant injury with ongoing treatment, and the use of a knife in the assault caused a cut and scar.

Judge Cameron said the victim's impact statement said she did not think her nose would ever be straight again without more surgery, which she did not want to have.

She had some emotional problems stemming from the incidents, saying it had effected her relationships with other people.

An application for a protection order for the victim was declined.