Police were alerted and staff were advised of the threat on January 23, Wellington Anniversary, as well as a decision to close the office due to safety concerns.
Police arrested and charged Sammons, two days later on January 25, with threatening to kill, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment, and breaching a previous court sentence for unrelated offending.
Sammons pleaded not guilty to the threatening to kill charge and appeared before Judge Lawrence Hinton in the Whanganui District Court on Friday to stand trial.
The hearing was derailed when police prosecutor Sergeant Stephen Butler sought an adjournment as witnesses were unavailable.
Butler was unable to explain why steps had not been taken earlier to advise the date, which had been set on April 4, was unsuitable as a witness from Netsafe was away, which police had known since May 2.
Defence lawyer Jamie Waugh opposed the adjournment submitting police had ample time to organise the file and arrange for the witnesses to be there.
Waugh argued court time was valuable and further delaying the hearing was not in the interest of justice so sought the charges be dismissed.
Judge Hinton accepted a “serious lapse” by police caused the situation but due to the serious nature of the charge he wasn’t prepared to dismiss it.
Sammons had been in custody since his arrest, more than four months, and Judge Hinton detailed it would be remiss if this wasn’t considered, prompting Waugh to request a sentencing indication.
The judge adopted the proposal, adjourning the hearing until the end of the day so he could continue with other cases while the prosecution and defence prepared new submissions for the unexpected hearing.
Resuming late in the afternoon Judge Hinton acknowledged the significant emotional impact Sammons’ actions had on NZME staff.
Waugh submitted the threat involved no pre-meditation, it had been made out of frustration the article had not been removed as it was causing significant difficulty for Sammons to obtain employment.
Judge Hinton agreed while the threat was out of order and over the top he accepted the explanation given by Waugh.
There was no suggestion Sammons had the immediate ability to carry out the threat and he said if a guilty plea was entered a sentence of six months and two weeks would be imposed.
The offer was promptly accepted with immediate effect, resulting in Sammons’ release from Kaitoke Prison due to time served.
Special release conditions included not to contact any NZME staff, directly or indirectly, attend all programmes as directed by his probation officer, and not to possess alcohol or non-prescribed drugs.
Noting Sammons’ previous bad record complying with court orders Judge Hinton made it extremely clear it was in his best interests to adhere to them.
“You will be in hot water if you don’t comply.”
Following the sentencing NZME chief executive Michael Boggs said the company took any threat extremely seriously.
“We immediately involved Police in this case, and closed our office as a precautionary measure, ensuring our team was kept safe while the matter was investigated.
“Our teams work extremely hard every day to keep our communities in the know, and I’m proud of our Whanganui Chronicle team for their resilience and support of one another throughout what was a distressing situation.”
