Strangler loses jail term appeal

An argument about borrowing a car escalated into a violent and prolonged assault and strangulation by a man on his female partner, who had to be saved by a passerby.

Napier man Robert Jenner already had a number of convictions for assaulting his partner of eight years when on February 18 last year he borrowed her car against her wishes.

The ensuing argument escalated and the woman went to gather clothes with the intention of leaving the house.

Jenner followed her and began what was to become a lengthy assault.

He pulled her legs from under her, causing her to fall on her back, then pulled her up by the legs and slammed her on the ground again. He then stomped her ribs and chest as she lay on the floor, begging him to stop.

Jenner yelled ‘‘I don’t f...en care, I just want to smash your face in.’’

The woman would later describe the stomping as ‘‘full force’’ and ‘‘10/10’’ in terms of strength.

She was able to get off the floor and made her way to a window.

As she put a leg out the window, Jenner grabbed her and put his arm around her neck.

He threw her to the floor and used both hands to strangle her until she lost consciousness.

She later described this experience as ‘‘everything went white and starry’’ and said he had done it before.

When she regained consciousness and stood up, Jenner punched her in the head several times. He only stopped when he heard a vehicle coming.

The woman was then able to get out of the house. Jenner chased her but stopped when a passerby intervened, allowing her to escape.

The woman was hospitalised with severe bruising over her body and a raspy voice due to strangulation.

Jenner, who had three convictions for male assaults female between 2015 and 2017, told police he had not assaulted the woman.

He was charged with strangulation, assault with intent to injure and breach of a protection order.

He appeared before Judge Chris Sygrove for a judge alone trial in September last year.

Jenner denied his offending and had ‘‘zero remorse’’, according to a report before the judge. Jenner claimed the victim had drug and mental health issues.

Judge Sygrove found him guilty and in November sentenced him to three years in jail.

Jenner appealed the decision, claiming it was manifestly excessive. He said the judge had adopted a starting point that was too high, had imposed a disproportionate uplift for his previous convictions, and had erred by not granting a discount for time spent on electronic bail.

The appeal was opposed by police.

Justice Peter Churchman heard the appeal last month. He found the judge erred by making the sentences cumulative instead of concurrent, and by failing to acknowledge the time spent on electronic bail.

But in taking the overall criminality into account, Justice Churchman found the three-year jail sentence was appropriate, and it was unchanged.