Man jailed for threatening Winz worker

A BENEFICIARY’S threat to kill his case worker had a major impact on her. Feelings of helplessness and loss of sleep followed her initial disbelief, Judge Kevin Phillips said jailing the man.

‘‘You say you were not going to carry out the threat. But the victim did not know that, or where you were,’’ the judge told Ezra Dominique Tamati (34), at sentencing in the Dunedin District Court.

The police summary said Tamati was at home in South Dunedin when he phoned the Winz call centre to speak about changing his benefit, at 12.47pm on December 5.

While speaking, he became agitated and said he would go to his case worker’s house and shoot her, then go to the office in Dunedin and shoot people.

He was suffering from anxiety, he said. People were hearing him but not listening to what he had to say.

Counsel Deborah Henderson said Tamati accepted the outcome would be a term of imprisonment.

He regretted what he did.

‘‘He says he never intended to follow through with it,’’ Mrs Henderson said. ‘‘He wants to get the help he needs.’’

Charged with threatening to kill, Tamati had pleaded guilty.

He was convicted and sentenced to 12 months’ jail, with six months’ release conditions.

He had also admitted breaching community detention, that charge arising from him breaching his curfew.

The community detention cancelled, he was given two months’ jail on the breach, and resentenced on the drinkdrive charge on which the community detention was imposed, four months’ jail — all sentences concurrent.