Threat to kill guilty plea

A DUNEDIN man who threatened to chop up a care worker had to be peppersprayed after throwing a knife at police, a court has heard.

Paul Brigham Davis (63) appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to threatening to kill and breaching release conditions.

However, when Judge Michael Turner outlined the facts of the case, the defendant interjected. “That’s a lie,” he said.

The court heard Davis had been diagnosed with “treatmentresistant” schizophrenia and antisocial personality traits.

But a clinician who assessed him said there was no causal link between his mental health issues and the incident on July 31.

Police were called to the supported accommodation in North East Valley after Davis confided in another resident that he intended to kill the victim, “by stabbing her with a knife . . . and chopping her into pieces”.

That person told the woman what the defendant had said and she locked herself in an office, where she called for help.

Police found Davis in his bedroom, armed with a steak knife.

“The defendant has picked up the steak knife from next to him on his bed and made threats to stab the attending officers,” court documents said.

When police pointed a Taser at Davis he threw the knife at an officer’s foot.

As his belligerence continued, he was peppersprayed until he backed down.

“He found that most uncomfortable,” defence counsel Noel Rayner said.

However, it only seemed to wind up Davis further.

“The defendant refused to make any statement and continued to rant and rave and yell abuse at members of police and the victim, informing everyone that he was going to stab them and cut them up,” a summary said.

The court heard Davis had spent a significant period of time in Wakari Hospital this year and was subject to a compulsory treatment order at the time of the incident.

Judge Turner said alcohol and drug abuse, as well as a “chaotic lifestyle”, had contributed to the man’s woes.

As soon as Davis was released from prison, it was imperative he engage with mental health services, he said.

Davis was jailed for five and ahalf months.