Man who attacked wife twice identified

Accountant loses bid for permanent name suppression

A DUNEDIN accountant who attacked his wife both before and after she had locked herself in a room for two hours has lost his bid for name suppression.

Imran Akhtar Khan (51) had argued his identity needed to be kept secret to protect his children but the victim said it was not necessary.

Judge Kevin Phillips said Khan had not come up with the ‘‘exceptional circumstances’’ required to have his name permanently suppressed.

The defendant had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of assault before the Dunedin District Court.

On February 5, he argued with his partner in the kitchen.

He was upset she had woken up late, according to the police summary.

The victim refused to discuss the matter so Khan grabbed her by her clothing and started shaking her.

He followed it up with a slap across her face while the woman screamed at him to stop.

Khan told her to call the police. As she bolted for the bathroom, the defendant pushed her from behind, causing her to fall and hit her knee.

While the victim sat on the edge of the bath, Khan again shook her and tried to push her into the tub before handing her the phone and again and telling her to call the police.

His wife locked herself in the bathroom for two hours before eventually leaving to pack her belongings.

But Khan had not calmed down and confronted her in the bedroom. He followed her into the hallway and shoved her against a bookshelf and then on to the floor.

It was only when their young son intervened that the assault ceased.

Khan had no previous convictions and his counsel John Westgate said his client was ‘‘extremely remorseful’’.

‘‘The incidents that occurred on the day were out of character,’’ he said. ‘‘He has no footprint for violence at all.’’

He said Khan’s employer knew about the charges and the attempt to gain name suppression was not in order to hide it from them.

The couple had separated since the incident, Mr Westgate said, and there was no protection order in favour of the victim.

But police prosecutor Tim Hambleton said he believed an order had been granted, which meant Khan would be stripped of his firearms licence.

Judge Phillips said the disagreement had to be resolved and the victim must be informed to allay the fears she had about her estranged husband having access to weapons.

Khan was sentenced to six months’ supervision and 120 hours’ community work.