Wife exposes domestic violence by Magasiva
Late actor Pua Magasiva can now be identified as the prominent entertainer who was convicted of domestic violence earlier this year.
Magasiva, 38, died in May, but in April he was sentenced after he put his wife in a headlock, dragged her by the neck and spat in her face. He was sentenced to 70 hours of community work and six months supervision for the attack in June 2018.
Magasiva was declined name suppression at his sentencing by Judge Claire Ryan, however his lawyer indicated they would lodge an appeal against naming him, saying his wife and child would suffer extreme hardship.
But by September, his widow, Elizabeth Sadler, decided she no longer wanted to keep his name a secret; telling a court that had she not been silenced, Magasiva may have sought the help he needed.
Stuff and NZME has also been fighting to lift the suppression.
On the night of the attack last year, the couple were at a restaurant with friends when Magasiva kicked Sadler under the table after taking exception to a remark she made.
Sadler became upset and went home to bed. Magasiva arrived home drunk and woke her up by spitting in her face. He then told her she wouldn’t be allowed to travel overseas with him. ‘‘She hid the passports from you and you grabbed her by the arms and used her arms to hit you in the face,’’ Judge Ryan said during sentencing.
The court heard he dragged her around the neck area before placing her in a headlock. Magasiva then began punching himself.
Sadler was about to call police when Magasiva threw the cellphone, which smashed on impact. Sadler then walked away from the house and called a taxi to take her to the police station.
At the sentencing, the court heard how Sadler had forgiven her husband, loved and supported him and wanted their marriage to last.
Magasiva told police his wife was the aggressor and claimed he had to grab her around the shoulder to restrain her. But Sadler’s face and neck were bruised. Magasiva initially pleaded not guilty to the assault, then changed his plea in November 2018 to guilty.
Judge Claire Ryan then ruled against permanent name suppression. ‘‘Famous people cannot walk into this court and say they want name suppression because they are famous. The reality is that family violence offending by a famous person is more likely to attract media attention,’’ Judge Ryan said at the time.
Magasiva’s defence counsel, Paul Wicks, QC, sought time to consider an appeal and interim name suppression was granted for 20 days. But during that time, Magasiva died. Two days after his death, police withdrew opposition to name suppression.
Judge Ryan extended the
‘‘... I also do not want to be victimised by being forced to hold the truth alone in silence.’’ Elizabeth Sadler
Pua Magasiva’s widow
interim suppression to May 24.
A review was then ordered after Sadler no longer sought suppression. But another member of Magasiva’s family filed an appeal, saying that naming him would cause extreme hardship to his family.
At a hearing in September, Sadler called for the ‘‘silence’’ to end. ‘‘I do not want anyone to be hurt or dishonour [Magasiva’s] memory, but I also do not want to be victimised by being forced to hold the truth alone in silence.’’
Sadler said she previously sought name suppression because she’d do anything to ‘‘protect’’ her husband, including ‘‘not being truthful’’.
She now regretted those choices. ‘‘If I had told the truth in the first place and not been silenced, Pua may have gotten the help he needed and I could have a voice,’’ she said.
Robert Stewart, acting on behalf of Stuff and NZME, argued the extreme hardship threshold for suppression in this case had not been met.
Police supported that view, and Stewart added: ‘‘While we all have sympathy for this man’s family, that is not enough.’’