Man pleads guilty to raft of assault charges against partner

The man pleaded guilty to a raft of assault charges. Photo / File

A Franz Josef Glacier man yesterday apologised to his partner for the way he treated her - including locking her in the car boot for an hour - as he pleaded guilty to a raft of assault charges, the day before his jury trial was due to begin in the Greymouth District Court.

Jesse Rae Tetoko Hini was charged with four counts of assaulting a female, and one charge each of threatening his partner with a hammer, assault with a piece of wood, threatening grievous bodily harm and kidnapping.

Hini was due to stand trial on Wednesday to defend the charges, however after police withdrew the kidnapping charge, and amended the details of some of the assault charges, he yesterday changed his plea to guilty.

Crown prosecutor Anselm Williams said the reference to Hini urinating on the victim was to be removed, as the victim told police that had not happened. A charge of assaulting a female with a weapon had also been amended to one of threatening the victim with a weapon.

However, Mr Williams said the reference to the victim being stuck in the boot of the car, where she was held for about an hour, would remain. When she was allowed back inside the car, she was soaking wet.

The woman was also punched a number of times around the head while she sat inside the car, and on a further occasion outside of the car. Hini also threatened to stab her with a pocket knife.

All the offences related to incidents which took place at Franz Josef on April 27 and 28.

Mr Williams said he was "very concerned" about what Hini might do when he got out of jail.

Judge David Saunders read a statement from the victim that she would like Hini to "get some help so we can have a normal relationship that doesn't include violence".

However the victim, who was present in court, recanted her previous police statement.

"I never said he was a threat when he gets out. This is the first time we have ever had a problem throughout our relationship, we have never had a problem before, it happened due to the stress and drama we had before we moved down here."

Lawyer Richard Bodle asked if the judge was prepared to look at an electronically monitored sentence for Hini, who had previously been remanded in custody.

Judge Saunders said he was looking at releasing him from custody on a "suite of release conditions, to tackle issues of anger, violence, drugs and parenting".

It would take two to three weeks to assess Hini for an electronically monitored sentence, and he would be sitting at home on a bracelet well into the new year.

The sentence he was suggesting would mean Hini would have a release date based on time served in custody, at the end of which he would be transported to Auckland, where he would be subject to the release conditions.

Before the end of the hearing, Hini apologised to his partner, telling her that he was "sorry for the way I treated you ... I had a really bad drug habit. I blame it on drugs - they had a lot to play in that."

- Greymouth Star