Rapist to victim: 'Thanks for that'

Kemp choked the woman, held a butcher's knife to her face, and stomped on her ribs as she lay sleeping. Photo / File

Eddie Kemp stood facing the corner of the dock, with his head down and his back to his victim, as he was sentenced to seven years in jail for a series of violent acts against her.

Kemp, 43, pleaded guilty to a variety of charges including rape, indecent assault, five counts of breaching a protection order, three counts of threatening to kill, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, assault with a weapon, and excess breath alcohol third or subsequent.

He appeared in Wanganui District Court yesterday for sentence by Judge David Cameron.

The court was told that on a number of occasions over a period of years, Kemp perpetrated various acts of violence against the woman, including choking her, holding a butcher's knife to her face, and stomping on her ribs as she lay sleeping on a mattress on the floor, breaking two ribs and puncturing her lung.

During the rape, the woman told him she wasn't interested, but lay rigid and too scared to move, as she was afraid of being hit. Afterward, he told her, "Thanks for that".

On numerous occasions Kemp threatened to kill her, once telling her he would slit her throat.

A number of the offences occurred in breach of a protection order.

Kemp's counsel, Mark Bullock, argued Kemp was genuinely remorseful for his actions and had apologised to his victim and written a letter to the court expressing his regret.

He asked that Kemp be given a discount off his sentence for his remorse.

A pre-sentence report noted Kemp had demonstrated some remorse but lacked insight into the impact his actions had on his victim.

Crown Solicitor Lance Rowe said the victim did not accept the apology, calling it an "expression of convenience", rather than genuine, and had written in her victim impact statement that Kemp had expressed remorse before, only to go on to perpetrate further acts of violence.

Judge David Cameron said Kemp had a criminal history spanning 1984-2011, and was considered a medium risk of reoffending and a "significant" risk of direct harm to others.

From reading her victim impact statement, his victim was "clearly" fearful of him, had low self-esteem due to his actions, and was afraid of what he might do when he got out of prison, Judge Cameron said.

He recognised that Kemp had expressed remorse to some extent, but it was tempered by his lack of insight into his offending.

Having read his letter to the court, Judge Cameron said he considered that, while it expressed regret on the face of it, it also appeared to be centred around himself, and he declined to give any discount for remorse.

"I consider it's largely a letter driven by self-interest at the last moment, and I'm not satisfied there is genuine remorse in terms of you understanding the impact your offending has had on the victim."

Kemp was also disqualified from driving for 18 months, having been caught driving with a breath alcohol level of 532mcgs per litre of breath on July 1 last year. The legal limit is 400mcgs.

Judge Cameron recommended that, while serving time, Kemp is given a psychological assessment regarding treatment options, and gave him his first "three strikes" warning.