Wife sentenced for husband’s fatal fall

The family of a man who died after his violent, alcoholic wife pushed him leading to his death, says her sentence of home detention will do nothing to bring him back.

The 2011 death of Ha¯wera’s 48-year-old Bruce Mouat was originally ruled an accident but last year, Susan Elizabeth Mouat was charged with manslaughter.

She initially pleaded not guilty but unexpectedly changed her plea to guilty on the day her trial was due to start in September.

In the High Court at New Plymouth yesterday, Justice Peter Churchman sentenced her to 11 months home detention to be served at a house in Napier.

He also imposed three post release conditions to help her deal with her alcohol addiction.

Susan’s sentence also took into account her 17 previous convictions – the majority of which were for violence and threats towards Bruce.

Outside court, family spokesman and Bruce’s brother-in-law Simon Harrison said the sentence wasn’t what they were hoping for.

‘‘Clearly we knew that the sentence wasn’t going to bring Bruce back after six long years.

‘‘But I think it’s fair to say the family are a bit disappointed with the sentence but we recognise there are parameters within which the justice was able to sentence the offender with.’’

Harrison said the family members each had their own views on the decision to sentence Susan to home detention.

‘‘This sentence now gives us some sort of closure but obviously we have to live with Bruce’s death forever and especially for his siblings and the kids,’’ he said.

‘‘He’ll never be forgotten by anyone, members of the community and as the crown touched on, he was a big part of the community down in South Taranaki and his work, it goes a wee way but there’ll never be closure.’’

Harrison said they also respected the initial police inquiry that found there was no foul play in Bruce’s death.

‘‘I think on the day when the offender plead guilty we said the family doesn’t have any issue with what happened at the coroner’s hearing and as you heard in there today, it was only in October of last year when she allegedly got this off her chest that the police were able to move forward with the prosecution,’’ he said.

‘‘So there’s no ill feeling towards the coroner or anyone like that’’

Bruce’s mother had been seriously impacted by her son’s death, Harrison said, and her health had deteriorated.

‘‘You probably noted she wasn’t here today, she’s just unable to be here,’’ he said.

‘‘The kids are suffering, his older son misses him terribly and that’s a huge loss to him. The siblings are struggling with it as well and as you heard the justice refer to, Neil, his brother, called him his best mate and he misses him terribly.

‘‘Then there’s the members of the community and those that he worked with, the alpine club which he was heavily involved with and he contributed a lot to that. I think it’s fair to say in a small community like Ha¯wera, where he’s been pretty much all his life, and within his family, he’s going to be hugely missed.’’

Churchman set a starting point of 22 months in jail for the offending, before adding two months for her 18 previous convictions. The 18th conviction, which came after his death, was for drink-driving.

Crown Prosecutor Justin Marinovich spoke of the loss expressed in the victim impact statements from Bruce’s family, who half-filled the public gallery at the sentencing.

He asked for a sentence of between 10 to 12 months home detention, along with post detention conditions to address Susan’s underlying issues. ‘‘We are dealing with a matter where the level of violence is at the lower end but still involves actions that have led to loss of life,’’ he said.

Defence lawyer Russell Fairbrother said Mouat was anguished by her actions and continued to carry the guilt of what she had done, and suggested a sentence of supervision coupled with community detention would be appropriate.

‘‘She saw herself as preventing further disturbance from an unexpected disturbance,’’ he said.

While it wasn’t self-defence in law, that was how Susan had seen it at the time, Fairbrother said.

‘‘She regrets immensely the outcome and she will relive that for the rest of her life.’’

Churchman acknowledged the unusual nature of the case, which couldn’t have gone ahead if she had kept the secret to herself.

‘‘But for your admission, the Crown position would be weak,’’ he said, before he gave her a five per cent discount on her end sentence.

Churchman decided against community detention, which he said would be too short a sentence.

Instead, Susan was sentenced to 17.43 months in prison, which Churchman converted to 11 months home detention at a home in Napier.

‘‘I think it’s fair to say the family are a bit disappointed with the sentence but we recognise there are parameters within which the justice was able to sentence the offender with.’’ Simon Harrison