Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Man tells constable he’ll ‘cut his head off’ after ‘bizarre’ offending
Denied a cigarette after he was taken into custody, Marlborough man Karl Holland threatened to cut off the arresting policeman’s head.
Holland had been arrested after lighting a small rubbish fire at a main intersection in Blenheim’s CBD and using his head to smash a window of a Picton cafe a day earlier, offending the judge called ‘‘unnecessary and bizarre’’.
The 27-year-old told police he wanted to be taken into custody, as he would ‘‘at least have three hot meals, get to watch TV and work out’’, a police summary said.
Holland appeared via audiovisual link whilst in custody at Blenheim District Court on Monday, where he admitted to charges of disorderly behaviour, wilful damage and speaking threateningly, which had been amended from an original charge of threatening to kill.
A summary of facts said at about 8.25pm on July 3, Holland smashed his head against a window of the Seabreeze cafe and bar on the corner of London Quay and High St in Picton, causing the glass to shatter.
He then continued to walk along High St, punching windows. In his explanation to police, he said he had become upset over the recent death of family members and said he wanted to go back to prison, where he felt ‘at home’.
The following day at around 6.40pm, Holland lit a small rubbish fire at the intersection of Market and High streets in Blenheim.
Police and the fire brigade arrived a short time later, where Holland admitted lighting the fire.
He was taken into custody at the Blenheim police station, where he asked if he could have a cigarette. When he was denied, Holland told a constable he would cut his head off.
On Monday, his lawyer Kent Arnott said Holland had been in custody for the last two weeks, ‘‘essentially because he had no suitable bail address’’.
Arnott said police hadn’t opposed Holland’s bail at his last court appearance two weeks ago.
‘‘He just had nowhere to go, and that is one of the reasons why he’s offended in this manner.’’
Holland still had nine months of a previous intensive supervision sentence to serve, Arnott said, who said his client had acknowledged he had a drinking issue.
Before deciding on a sentence, Judge Jo Rielly referred to Holland’s previous sentence of intensive supervision given to him in April, saying, ‘‘it seems that you have not engaged in any meaningful way at all, even though that was a very lenient sentence’’.
‘‘You’ve then gone on to commit these offences and make an absolute nuisance of yourself and cause significant damage in the community,’’ she said.
The judge said she presumed Holland was significantly under the influence of alcohol at the time he committed the offences.
‘‘I make that assumption because the behaviour was so unnecessary and bizarre,’’ she said.
On the two charges of wilful damage and speaking threateningly, Judge Rielly sentenced Holland to one month of imprisonment on each charge, which were to be served concurrently.
He was convicted and discharged for the disorderly behaviour charge and made to pay $2500 in reparation for the smashed window.