Man jailed for assaulting wife

A Taranaki man has been jailed for pulling his wife by her hair, causing the woman to fall and dislocate her shoulder.

Tekapua Arepa Heemi, 59, appeared in the New Plymouth District Court on Wednesday for sentencing on a single charge of assault with intent to injure.

He had denied the charge following the November 2017 incident, but was found guilty after a judge-alone trial in September 2018

At the sentencing, Judge Philippa Anne Cunningham, who appeared via audio-visual link, described a disagreement occurring between Heemi and the woman after she returned from work on the evening of the incident.

That had resulted in Heemi becoming angry with his wife of 25 years, she said.

Feeling threatened, she tried to leave their Waitara address but Heemi grabbed her hair and pulled her down to the ground.

‘‘She then described crouching like a baby, wrapped in a cocoon while she was on the ground.

‘‘And she demonstrated putting her hands in front of her face in a defensive position to protect herself as she was laying on her side.’’

Cunningham said the woman then felt punches around her head, arm and shoulder.

She eventually escaped outside with Heemi following close behind. However, she was able to remain hidden from sight.

The woman suffered bruising, pain to her arm and a dislocated shoulder.

The shoulder injury was discovered after her colleagues saw her struggling to lift a pile of paper at work the following day and so took her to the hospital for a check-up.

‘‘She says that she’s been afraid of you for a long time,’’ Cunningham told Heemi.

Defence lawyer Kylie Pascoe sought a sentencing start point of seven to eight months, while police prosecutor Lewis Sutton argued for 12 months.

However, Cunningham adopted a start point of ten months saying Heemi showed no remorse for his actions.

She gave an uplift of one month to reflect a previous conviction of male assaults female, resulting in an end sentence of 11 months jail.

‘‘[The victim] then described crouching like a baby, wrapped in a cocoon while she was on the ground. And she demonstrated putting her hands in front of her face in a defensive position to protect herself as she was laying on her side.’’ Judge Philippa Anne Cunningham