Jealous man chokes girlfriend

Consumed by a jealous rage, Keanu Frelan ‘‘lost it’’ and beat and choked his girlfriend until she lost consciousness.

Frelan, 23, was jailed for 15 months when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Friday, on a single charge of injuring with intent to injure.

He and his 19-year-old victim had been living together in Nga¯ruawa¯hia for about a year when, on the morning of July 9 last year, he attacked her.

It was about 8am when the couple began arguing about what the police summary of facts on the case describes as ‘‘an infidelity issue’’. As she was lying on her bed, Frelan put one hand around her neck and began searching for her mobile phone. Then he put both hands around her neck and began choking her, applying a level of force that she later described as 10 out of 10.

Unable to breathe, she blacked out. She woke up, shaking, sometime afterward. It was not long before the conflict resumed.

As the teenager continued to cry and tried to get off the bed Frelan pushed her back down, and then climbed on top of her.

He then punched her in the side of her face. That rated nine out of 10 in terms of force used, she said. Telling his victim he wanted to ‘‘smash her’’, Frelan again began choking his girlfriend with both hands and again she struggled to breathe.

He only stopped choking her so he could resume punching her.

He landed eight or nine blows on her face, the back of her head and her stomach. He finished punching her but continued to verbally abuse her as she got up, left the house, and went for help.

Frelan had an explanation for the police when they caught up with him: ‘‘I lost it when I found out she was cheating on me,’’ he said. In court, it was revealed Frelan and his victim had apparently reconciled, and she was now pregnant to him.

‘‘The relationship may well continue,’’ said his counsel, Gerard Walsh, and urged Judge Kim Saunders to give consideration to his client’s young age, lack of previous convictions and his desire to rehabilitate himself since he was arrested.

A victim impact statement from Frelan’s girlfriend, made soon after his attack declared the relationship was over.