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<\/p>\nA teenager who viciously beat his girlfriend has been freed from prison in a bid to stop him being recruited by gangs.<\/p>\n
James Tuwhangai (19) was jailed for two years when he was sentenced at the Dunedin District Court in September following a six-hour attack on his then partner.<\/p>\n
But after serving three months of that term, the Waitahuna teen was released after Justice Rachel Dunningham granted an appeal before the High Court at Dunedin.<\/p>\n
Tuwhangai will instead serve nine months’ home detention with family.<\/p>\n
The judge took no issue with the defendant’s lack of remorse which had been referred to by the sentencing judge when he opted to lock up the teenager.<\/p>\n
Despite leaving his victim with a broken cheekbone and covered in bruises, Tuwhangai claimed he had not meant to harm her, then came up with an alternate version of events in which she confronted him with a knife.<\/p>\n
In a pre-sentence interview with Probation, he twice referred to the woman as a ”f… b…” and said she was “staunch for a white chick”.<\/p>\n
He turned up for that meeting dressed all in red clothing with “notable swastikas on his hands, tattooed into his skin”, and there was a concern he wanted to be recruited by the Mongrel Mob.<\/p>\n
The judge noted Tuwhangai’s parents had specifically moved the family from the North Island to protect their children from the pull of gang culture.<\/p>\n
“They clearly cared deeply about his welfare,” she said.<\/p>\n
The parents, Justice Dunningham said, would provide solid support for the defendant during a spell of home detention.<\/p>\n
“In my view, Mr Tuwhangai is particularly vulnerable to embarking on a career of offending, and this would only be exacerbated by a minimum of a year in prison. At this juncture, he has already served three months’ imprisonment. I consider this has given him a taste of prison life and if it is to have a deterrent effect, it should have had that by now,” she said.<\/p>\n
“There is a clear fork in the road for Mr Tuwhangai. His family are reaching out to him and urging him to take one path, but I suspect the gangs and prison life will be urging him to take another.”<\/p>\n
He was released from jail days before Christmas.<\/p>\n
Tuwhangai was at home with his girlfriend on January 26 last year when he decided she had been seeing another man.<\/p>\n
He punched her, broke her phone so she could not call police and damaged her car to the point where it was undriveable.<\/p>\n
The incident continued for hours and after a brief chase at one point, Tuwhangai strangled the victim, lifting her almost off her feet as she struggled to breathe.<\/p>\n
Even when she packed her bags and left the house, the defendant chased her, threw the bag into a paddock and scattered her clothes around.<\/p>\n
The ordeal ended with him calling her a ”slut” and punching her twice more in the face.<\/p>\n
A protection order made in favour of the victim would remain, in place despite the appeal.<\/p>\n
If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2022 Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours of friends to ring for you.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Run outside and head for where there are other people.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Scream for help so that your neighbours can hear you.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Take the children with you.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Don’t stop to get anything else.<\/p>\n
\u2022 If you are being abused, remember it’s not your fault. Violence is never okay<\/p>\n
\u2022 Women’s Refuge: Free national crisis line operates 24\/7 – 0800 refuge or 0800 733 843<\/p>\n
\u2022 Shine, free national helpline 9am- 11pm every day – 0508 744 633<\/p>\n
\u2022 It’s Not Ok: Information line 0800 456 450<\/p>\n
\u2022 Shakti: Providing specialist cultural services for African, Asian and middle eastern women and their children. Crisis line 24\/7 0800 742 584<\/p>\n
\u2022 Ministry of Justice:<\/p>\n
\u2022 National Network of Stopping Violence:<\/p>\n
\u2022 White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men’s violence towards women, focusing this year on sexual violence and the issue of consent.<\/p>\n
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