Queenstown District Court

AN Arrowtown driver will spend the next 14 months in prison after admitting five charges stemming from three separate incidents involving the same female victim in Queenstown last year.

Thomas James Luke Oliver (45), driver, yesterday admitted breaching a protection order, threatening to kill the woman, assaulting a person in a family relationship, assaulting the woman with intent to injure her and wilful damage.

A strangulation charge was withdrawn by police.

In the Queenstown District Court yesterday, Judge Bernadette Farnan said a protection order was in place between Oliver and the victim when, in late November, the pair were at the same address and got into a verbal argument.

That escalated and resulted in Oliver grabbing the woman and pushing her against a wall. He later told police he was going to kill her.

On December 10, the victim and Oliver were again at an address together when another argument broke out, during which Oliver took the woman’s phone and forcefully smacked it into her face, causing her nose to bleed.

Two days later, the victim was collecting belongings from a property when Oliver grabbed her around the throat, kicked her twice to the groin and punched her left cheek before pushing her on to a bed, causing her to hit her head against a windowsill.

He then grabbed a crowbar and smashed it against the front left door of her vehicle before he picked up a knife, went to the gate of the property and again threatened to kill her.

Oliver could not speak to police due to drowsiness.

Judge Farnan said he had prior convictions, including one of threatening to kill and assault with intent to injure in 2016.

She found his culpability ‘‘towards moderate’’. Aggravating factors included the existence of the protection order, injuries the victim suffered and the multiple offences.

While police sought a starting point of three years and four months’ imprisonment, Judge Farnan said that was ‘‘excessive’’ and instead sentenced Oliver to no more than 14 months in prison on the two assault charges, the breach of protection order and threatening to kill, which could not be converted to home detention.

For wilful damage, he was convicted and discharged.

Judge Farnan also sentenced him to six months’ post detention release conditions, with special conditions, and issued an order

for destruction of the knife.