Teen gets seven years jail for NYE stabbing

Hemi Taylor, 18, pleaded guilty in Gisborne District Court to aggravated robbery, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and assault with a blunt instrument. Photo / File

An 18-year-old man who stabbed a woman just below her heart on New Year's Eve has been jailed for seven-and-a-half-years.

Hemi Taylor, 18, pleaded guilty in Gisborne District Court to aggravated robbery, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and assault with a blunt instrument.

Judge Tony Adeane said a minimum four-year period of non-parole was appropriate for Taylor - a man with a "short, but serious'' criminal history - because he was a young man who resorted to entirely unrestrained violence.

Counsel Mark Sceats said Taylor had a dysfunctional upbringing.

The court was told two women were walking home at 3am. At one stage they were close to a group of men with links to the Mongrel Mob, who were chanting slogans associated with that gang. One woman replied with Black Power-linked comments.

A mobster made comments such as "let's bash the bitch''.

Taylor was seen with a white-handled knife and he said, "I'm going to take your bag'' and "I'm going to stab you bitch''.

Taylor grabbed the complainant's bag and the woman was stabbed, with the knife entering her chest on an angle just below her chest. She also suffered wounds and lacerations to her fingers as she tried to protect herself.

The complainant was not aware of the severity of her injuries, said Judge Adeane.

Another woman was also injured when struck by a fence paling.

Judge Adeane said Taylor claimed he was intoxicated and could hardly remember the incident. He had made three previous court appearances for 15 convictions and was jailed on the last occasion for four months.

He did not acknowledge any wrongdoing or remorse and had a history of drugs and alcohol abuse, bad health and gang involvement.

Taylor was a man who presented risk to the community and was unable to control himself even at the slightest frustration or provocation, said the judge.

Mr Sceats said Taylor had lived in foster homes, left school young and uneducated, had hearing problems and lacked positive role models in his life.

His only role models had been gang members.

Taylor shared in the gang ethos of not "narking''.

He would not name other gang members involved but admitted to being the person who used a knife.

Taylor needed rehabilitation after serving the sentence, said Mr Sceats.

- GISBORNE HERALD