Six years and nine months in prison for the Tasman man who raped and sexually assaulted his partner

A jury found the 32 -year -old guilty of rape and illegal sex, following a process in Nelson District Court.

He was also found guilty by the attack, for which he was convicted and discharged.

The conviction was led today before Judge Andy Nicholls in Wellington, who was connected to the defendant and his small supporters from Christchurch’s district court through the video, while the crown was linked to Nelson.

The Nelson Court was closed suddenly last month Following the discovery, it was well below the seismic risk standards.

The closure forced many scheduled issues to be postponed and drive from a distance.

The victim described in her statement she read in court in her name that she was in a relationship with the man for several years and as when she met her, she was “young and confident”.

She felt in love, that she could trust him, but in time she changed, and she became a person who was physically and mentally injured.

“I became confused about what was right or wrong and I didn’t know if what was happening was normal.

“I just wanted to be loved,” she said.

She became isolated from what happened and did not want others to know that she was scared and how betrayed and neglected she felt.

She also described how difficult it was for her to go to the police and how it was not her intention to “punish” when all she wanted was to tell her excuses for the wounds.

The jury verdict

The facts accepted by the jury were that when the victim was waiting for the operation to address a painful medical condition, the man ignored it when he said he did not want sex, he kept him down and had sex as he was crying, on his stomach and unable to fight back.

Then, later, in December of that year, he forced him to have oral sex after holding his nose, so she was forced to open her mouth.

At the same time, he became abusive to others after drinking at a Christmas party. The victim left, he followed, an argument broke out and he assaulted it.

The prosecutor of the crown Sophie O’Donoghue said that rape in a relationship was among the most difficult complaints, part of the wrong conceptions held by the members of the community.

She said that the aggravating features in this case were that the victim was vulnerable because of her medical condition, that she had pain and she said “no”.

“He wanted sex, so he took it anyway. In this sense, there was a great cruelty, ”said O’Donoghue.

She challenged that it was worse to rape someone with medical problems who said he had pain and asked him to stop.

O’Donoghue said that events and violation of confidence caused the long -term victim.

A “man with a good character”

Defense lawyer, Kerryn Beaton, acknowledged the impact on the victim and transmitted that it was more relevant than the vulnerability the man took advantage.

The defense also referred to the numerous support letters from the family, friends and man’s employer and how he described that the behavior he was found guilty was not the kind of things that none of them expected.

“He was a man with a good character,” Beaton said.

She said that she continued to display that good character through the many community events she had part of and the help and support she granted to her local community, above and beyond what was paid.

Beaton said that the defendant did not accept the verdict, whom Judge Nicholls said is an indication of his rehabilitation perspectives.

From a starting point for eight years, the defendant received a 15% reduction for his anterior good character and, in recognizing the impact that the imprisonment will have on the stepdifts to which he has become almost in a new forged relationship.

Judge Nicholls granted the victim the order of protection he was looking for.

Tracy Neal is an Open Justice reporter, based in Nelson, Nzme. She was previously the RNZ regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and covered general news, including the local judgment and administration for Nelson Mail.