The victim was only eight days into his holiday when he was stabbed on the Interislander. Photo / Tracy Neal
The victim was only eight days into his holiday when he was stabbed on the Interislander. Photo / Tracy Neal
A young overseas tourist travelling New Zealand with friends could never have imagined that when he boarded the Cook Strait ferry he’d be stabbed by another passenger wielding a pair of large scissors.
The 25-year-old was only eight days into his holiday when on the afternoon of February 8 this year he boarded the Interislander in Wellington, headed for Picton.
While in the ferry’s lounge area, surrounded by other passengers, the attacker lunged without reason or warning. The terrified passenger - who saw the look in his assailant’s eye, thought he was about to be killed.
He glimpsed the man rapidly advance from behind before he was stabbed in the torso with the sharp-pointed scissors and was left with a deep puncture wound.
The assailant then swung the scissors twice more but missed.
The 23-year-old assailant, who was discovered upon his arrest to be a patient in a mental health unit, pleaded guilty in the Nelson District Court in June to injuring with intent/reckless disregard.
Judge Richard Russell said having seen photos of the scissors it was “extremely fortunate” the victim had recovered from his physical injuries, which could have been fatal.
The victim, an Asian on a post-graduation holiday, later wondered if the attack was racially motivated.
Interislander said it was standard practice to review security on its ships ahead of the peak summer period. Photo / Mark Mitchell
He later told the police he will never forget the fierce look on the man’s face and how it made him feel.
“This will stay with him forever, but he is very concerned to see you get the help that you need,” Judge Richard Russell said in sentencing the man, who has permanent name suppression, in the Nelson District Court last month.
He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, which will be served as a special patient in a mental health facility for him to undergo the recommended intensive psychiatric treatment.
At the hearing, from which the sentencing notes were provided to NZME yesterday, Judge Russell said the outcome was in the offender’s interests as well as in the interests of public safety.
Two assessors’ reports found the man was fit to plead and fit to stand trial, and one said the defence of insanity was not available to him. The other report sought more time and a disposition report was then commissioned.
Judge Russell said one senior forensic psychiatrist found the man had a “significant history of violence” driven by personality and psychotic factors.
However, the man had no previous convictions.
The specialist concluded that managing the risk he posed needed dual management by mental health and Corrections services, so a hybrid order from the court was needed.
He also said there was extensive evidence to indicate the defendant’s mental impairment and psychotic illness, “complicated by comorbid trauma, substance abuse and personality disorders” required compulsory treatment.
Judge Russell said provisions of the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act gave courts the power to deal with an offender such as this defendant, by sentencing him to prison but ordering that he be detained in a hospital as a special patient.
The defendant was also assessed as being capable of “disengaging” from treatment and being capable of violence independent of his mental illness, which meant a standard custodial term in prison could be considered if warranted.
Judge Russell noted the man’s family remained supportive of him and was pleased he was getting the help he needed. He also noted the defence lawyer’s submission that the man had to some extent “fallen through the gaps of the mental health system”.
The man understood he would remain a patient until clinicians decided the time was right for him to be discharged, which required the consent of relevant authorities.
“Whichever way one looks at it, this was a really nasty assault. The victim was a tourist, minding his own business with his friends, and did absolutely nothing to provoke you to act in the way you did,” Judge Russell told him at sentencing.
“I do not want you to forget for a moment the impact you have had on this entirely innocent victim.
“He was a tourist here on holiday and I imagine he is unlikely to ever come back.”
Judge Russell imposed standard and special conditions upon his release, including that he was to live at places directed by probation and to continue counselling and treatment as recommended by probation and forensic mental health authorities.
Interislander general manager of operations Duncan Roy told NZME it would not comment on the attack, but it was standard practice for the organisation to review security on its ships ahead of the peak summer period to ensure the safety of passengers and crew.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
