While the 31-year-old successfully returned to prison, he had to be hospitalised soon after when a bag of meth he had ingested at the tangi burst.
Irving’s counsel Bolivia Newton explained to Judge Kim Saunders in the Hamilton District Court recently how he was meant to have been sentenced by her on June 5. However, he couldn’t make it as he’d been admitted to Waikato Hospital’s intensive care unit following a “failed compassionate bail”.
She’d told Irving he may lose discount for any rehabilitative prospects due to what happened.
“I have explained that to Mr Irving, and he fully understands what happened and wanted me to tell you that he’s very, very sorry for what he did.
“He nearly died.”
Newton said Irving had been “admonished” by Judge Noel Cocurullo when reappearing in court in June to seek a new sentencing date.
“I understand he was never fully charged and it was dealt with through an internal disciplinary process [at the prison].”
‘Your behaviour was disgraceful’
During that bail breach hearing on June 12, an unimpressed Judge Cocurullo told Irving he had basically given him “the finger” and he refused to accept Irving’s apology, saying “you are sorry because you got caught”.
“You nearly killed yourself.”
He said he had made it clear to Irving, in granting his compassionate bail release, that he would not involve himself with illicit drugs.
“There is now a clear allegation against you that on your return to prison, you had secreted meth upon your person internally such that by your instructions to your lawyer it nearly killed you because it had burst and toxicity occurred affecting your body acutely and you had to be taken to Waikato Hospital.
“You provide an apology for mucking up to me.
“I hear that apology. Your behaviour was disgraceful.
“You let yourself down, you’ve let your whanau, hapu, and iwi down and let down your supervisor as well as your kuia and kaumatua from your marae.”
Judge Cocurullo said Irving knew what was on the line as he’d told him about the recent spate of fraudulent compassionate bail requests they’d had in the Waikato where people had invented the deaths of relatives.
He told Irving he’d “further dented future compassionate bail applications” due to his actions.
‘Whacked with frozen lamb chop’
In sentencing him last week, on charges which also included two charges of breaching a protection order, and breaching a sentence of supervision, Judge Saunders described his offending as “determined, control conduct”.
Irving and the victim happened to be at a relative’s house when they started arguing over child custody, and he struck her multiple times in the face.
The pair then left and went to another house. However, they got into another argument when Irving kicked and punched her before whacking her across the face with a frozen lamb chop.
When it came to issuing discounts from her starting point of 27 months, Judge Saunders told Irving he was the “author of his own misfortune” with the drugs bursting inside him.
“I think Judge Cocurullo, in his minute of June 12, made it very clear to you how disappointed he was in you,” she noted and jailed him for 19 months.
She also remitted his outstanding fines so he had a clean slate once he was released.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20.
