Bank staffer target of vendetta

A Waikato bank employee was forced to hire security guards to stand outside his house, and he had to shift homes in a bid to avoid a man with a vendetta against him and his employers.

That man, David Stewart Boyd, 41, was sentenced to three months of home detention when he appeared for sentence in the Hamilton District Court on Tuesday, after earlier being found guilty by a jury on a charge of criminal harassment.

Boyd’s victim, who worked for the ANZ bank, became the target of a short but sustained campaign of intimidation after the Nawton man came to the conclusion that he had been wronged in a business dealing.

While Boyd’s modus operandi did not consist of violence or direct threats, the persecution of his perceived adversary was far from subtle. This included a note stuffed into a Christmas card and jammed into the door of the victim’s house on December 29, 2015, sending various emails and making phone calls, and visiting the house on at least eight occasions.

The victim was forced to hire a security guard to keep an eye on his property around the clock. The victim moved his family into a rental property and sold his house in an effort to avoid Boyd’s ongoing attention.

As Judge Philip Connell noted, the ‘‘insidious effect’’ of all this was to place the bank worker ‘‘in considerable fear … fear of the unknown – of what you might do’’.

‘‘The psychological effect can be easily understood … it can have greater culpability than actual physical acts.’’

Both the victim and the victim’s wife had lost their sense of security and both were continuing to experience ongoing stress, the judge said.

‘‘You have a complete lack of remorse and seem unable to understand the effects of your actions,’’ the judge told Boyd.

However Boyd would have known full well the impact of his psychological bullying and he was being ‘‘somewhat obtuse’’ by not making that explicitly clear, the judge said.

Boyd, who had conducted his own defence, stated in court that he felt his treatment had been ‘‘very unfair’’ and whatever punishment the judge imposed would come on the top of ongoing punishment ‘‘for the past 12 years’’.

Although Boyd admitted he had ‘‘little remorse’’ for his victim, he now wanted to put the situation behind him and move on with his life. He was managing several properties and had his elderly mother to look after.

‘‘I don’t think I am the violent menace to public safety I have been made out to be,’’ he said to the court. ‘‘It’s not against the law to be angry.’’

Boyd said he had complied with his bail conditions in every way and he gave the judge his word he would never again contact his victim.

‘‘I have not tried to hide anything. I believe I have acted with integrity.’’ Boyd said even though he knew where the victim now lived, he had not approached him again.

‘‘I’m a little concerned about that,’’ Judge Connell said shortly before sentencing him to three months of home detention, which will be judicially monitored.

The judge also approved a request for a non-association order between Boyd and his victim, which will stay in force for 12 months.