Man takes jealous rage out on two cars

A man who used a chisel and knuckledusters to damage two cars, because of text messages his partner sent, needs help to get over his anger problems, a court has heard.

Luke Paul Richards also threatened to slit his partner’s throat.

He was sentenced in the Palmerston North District Court yesterday to three months of community detention and six months of supervision for a variety of offences, including threatening to cause grievous bodily harm and wilful damage.

All the offending happened in September and October, starting with him breaching his home detention.

The first breach happened when he was on an approved absence, but the car he was in suffered mechanical problems, so he needed to go to a workshop.

The other breaches involved him not turning up to be assessed by probation for programmes.

Most of his more serious crimes happened on October 8, when he was in his partner’s car.

He became jealous over text messages, was aggressive and told her he wanted to give her the bash.

She refused to drive to the workplace of a man Richards thought she might be seeing, saying she had a doctor’s appointment.

He reacted by taking a chisel to her car’s dashboard, before resting it on his lap, but facing her.

Frightened by what happened, she drove Richards to the workplace, where he put on knuckledusters and started smashing the other man’s car.

Richards kicked off the wing mirrors and managed to punch the windscreen so hard it cracked, before threatening to slit his partner’s throat.

His last crime involved him getting angry while meeting his probation officer in Feilding and kicking a door in frustration, causing $555 of damage.

Defence lawyer Tim Hesketh said Richards, who has a fivepage-long criminal history, and his partner reconciled after the incident.

Richards was supposed to be sentenced in December, but it was put off so he could do an antiviolence course.

But that did not happen, first because Richards wanted to do one-on-one work.

Hesketh said Richards had since dedicated himself to doing the work.

Judge Stephanie Edwards said the October 8 offending was particularly serious, especially as it involved two different threats to his partner.

But his dedication to get help pushed the sentence towards community detention, she said.

Richards must also pay reparation for the door and another $1200 for the car damage.

Richards kicked off the wing mirrors and managed to punch the windscreen so hard it cracked, before threatening to slit his partner’s throat.