Man jailed for packing tape choking, beating

A man who stomped on and used packaging tape to choke another man into unconsciousness, causing him permanent brain injuries, has been jailed for eight and a half years.

And Wallace Schimanski, 45, must serve a minimum period of half that time before he can even be considered for release.

The Taumarunui man was sentenced in the Hamilton District Court on Wednesday on a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. According to the police summary of facts Schimanski went to the victim’s house in Manunui, near Taumarunui on May 1, last year.

The pair knew each other through a common associate.

Schimanski asked the victim where his flatmate was and when told the flatmate was out he left.

A short time later the victim heard a noise coming from the garage, he investigated and found Schimanski inside.

After a brief exchange, the victim turned to walk out and was felled from behind, the blow to his head causing him to lose con- sciousness. When he came to on the floor of the garage, he found brown packing tape had been wrapped around his neck.

The victim pleaded Schimanski to little effect.

According to the summary of facts, Schimanski ‘‘applied pressure to the tape’’, effectively choking the victim into unconsciousness.

He then set about stomping on the man’s head.

Once he was done, Schimanski left the victim inside, unconscious and lying in a pool of blood.

When the victim failed to pick up his children from his former with partner that afternoon, she sent people out to look for him.

He was discovered in the garage, unconscious - about 5pm that day.

He was hospitalised and spent two weeks on a ventilator in intensive care and then six weeks in a brain injury unit.

In his victim impact statement, the man said his first memory after being choked out was waking up in the ambulance.

He suffered numerous ongoing physical and psychological effects from the beating, including numbness to parts of his body that impeded his mobility, and daily pain. Crown prosecutor Duncan McWilliam sought a starting point of 10 years in prison, with a nonparole period of at least 60 per cent of that sentence.

Schimanski’s lawyer Gerard Walsh asked for an eight to nineyear starting point, notinghis client’s guilty plea, a letter of remorse to the court, and his willingness to take part in a restorative justice conference - despite the victim’s reluctance to meet. Judge Glen Marshall factored in a previous manslaughter conviction and discharged Schimanski on an additional robbery charge.