Man was threatened with sword, court hears

A DUNEDIN boardinghouse resident brandished a samurai sword and threatened to chop up his flatmate, a court has heard.

Kamal Liam Pandey (24) appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week after pleading guilty to threatening to kill and possessing a weapon.

Counsel Noel Rayner said his client was assessed by clinicians as a defence of insanity was explored.

Pandey did not meet the criteria but was “clearly quite close to it”, Mr Rayner said.

On September 19. the defendant and victim were at the boarding house where they lived.

Pandey, the court heard, became “aggressive and agitated” and took a samurai sword to the other man’s bedroom.

A police summary described how the defendant held the weapon in his right hand and pointed it at the victim in a threatening manner.

Pandey told the man “I’ll chop you up” or “I’ll f... have you”.

When later spoken to by police the defendant accepted he made the threat, but believed he had said: “I will end you.”

After hearing the comment, the victim locked himself in his room while Pandey stood outside and continued the menacing conduct.

When police arrived they found a total of three samurai swords in the defendant’s bedroom.

Mr Rayner was quick to point out the items were ornamental and not sharp.

Pandey, he said, had developed beliefs the victim was acting towards him and his cat in a “personal and intimate way” at night.

He believed the victim was going to harm his mother, too,

Mr Rayner said.

While Pandey had no previous convictions for violence, there had been other incidents of aggression at the house, Judge Josephine Bouchier said.

Despite that background, the victim was sympathetic.

Pandey had issues with alcohol and cannabis and had been receiving treatment for his mental health issues for the past two years.

He would be under the spotlight of Corrections for the next 12 months as the judge imposed a term of intensive supervision.

She ordered the three samurai swords be destroyed.