Masterton man jailed for attack

BEHIND BARS: Masterton man Dwayne Holdem has been sentenced to eight months for assault. PHOTO/FILE

After reading text messages on his partner's phone, Dwayne Thomas Holdem was so enraged he woke her by strangling her to the point she couldn't breathe.

Holdem, 29, of Masterton, previously pleaded guilty to male assaults female, and was sentenced to eight months' jail by Judge John Bergseng in Masterton District Court yesterday.

The court heard after reading text messages on the woman's phone on November 19 last year Holdem went into the bedroom where she was sleeping and put his hands around her throat, strangling her.

She tried to fight him off, dislodging Holdem's grip before she ran from the room worried for her children.

In a statement read to the court, she said prior to the incident, Holdem's behaviour was spiralling out of control. He was controlling and impacting her day-to-day life the court heard.

She now suffers from anxiety, Judge Bergseng said.

Holdem spoke from the dock, voicing remorse for his actions..

"I should have just packed my bags and left.

"I didn't know how to deal with it," he said.

Holdem told the court he had learned a lesson from being remanded in custody.

"Being kept in prison has helped me to see what I've done. It's helped me to see my stupidness," he said.

Holdem's lawyer Frank Minehan asked the court to consider a community corrections recommendation for Home Detention.

He submitted, "this is the best outcome for a number of reasons".

Holdem could receive counselling, which would help with his mental well-being, and his relationships, and he would get support from his mother and sister if allowed to complete home detention in Dannevirke.

He could also study computing and take part in anger management programmes, Mr Minehan said.

Holdem said when he is released he would "continue to do what I was doing before the incident, which was changing my life".

"I'm trying to change for the better of myself and my son," he said.

As Judge Bergseng was about to sentence Holdem to a community-based sentence he realised the victim had moved to Dannevirke as well, and said the home detention address wasn't suitable any longer.

"The sentence was entirely appropriate, well thought out and structured. However, I have reservations about the address due to the location of the victim."

Holdem wanted to be dealt with immediately to put the offending behind him.

"I'd rather get my sentence today so I can pay my price for this," he told the judge.

At the time of the offending Holdem was on post release conditions from a previous jail term for assaulting the same victim.

Using a starting point of 10 months imprisonment, Judge Bergseng sentenced Holdem to eight months' jail, taking into account his early guilty plea and remorse.

He left it open for Holdem to apply for home detention if a suitable address was found.

Holdem was also given post-release conditions for six months.

"The manner in which you have addressed me today has given me hope that you will turn the corner," the judge said.