Jekyll and Hyde character jailed for 16 years
A convicted rapist described as having a ‘‘Jekyll and Hyde’’ personality has been jailed for 16 years.
In February, Shannon Andrew Pakiere Smith was found guilty of multiple sex charges, including raping two women.
His victims, a 15-year-old girl and an older woman, gave evidence at Smith’s trial, which was so harrowing at times that it reduced jury members to tears.
The 37-year-old will have to serve eight and a half years before he is considered for release.
Judge Garry Barkle said Smith still maintained he had not raped the women and showed little remorse for what he had done.
Throughout his trial, Smith maintained the sex with been consensual with both victims.
Regarding the older victim, he said their encounters had replicated acts from the erotic romance novel 50 Shades of Grey.
However, the devastation Smith’s offending had on the victims and their families, and the toll the trial process had on them, could not be denied, the judge said.
‘‘The impact of your conduct has been profound. It is ongoing, it has been life-changing and it will be long-lasting.’’
He said he had read through the documentation defence counsel had filed about Smith before Friday’s sentencing. This included character references and letters of support.
‘‘Accepting those references it would seem you have somewhat of a Jekyll and Hyde character,’’ Judge Barkle said, when comparing this information to the facts of the case.
On January 9, 2016, the teen victim and two friends were walking back to Opunake when Smith offered them a ride.
After dropping them off, he tricked the girl to get back into the car, a move motivated by Smith’s desire to have sex with her, the judge said. He drove her to a deserted area and raped her.
‘‘Her screams of help went unheard.’’
Judge Barkle said after Smith ‘‘satisfied his predatory needs’’ he dropped the girl off. When her friends saw her in a distressed state, they approached the defendant, who then assaulted them.
The charges related to the older woman are historic and involved repeated attacks by Smith on her. It involved her being held down, raped and choked.
During these assaults, the victim would often sob and tell Smith to stop as she was in pain but he took no notice, the judge said.
The father of one of the teenagers Smith assaulted told New Plymouth District Court how much his son had been affected by what had happened.
He said the boy was a ‘‘shell of his former self’’ and had turned to drugs, alcohol and self-harming as a means to cope with the fact he felt he failed to protect his friend.
However, despite the ongoing toll the case had on the boy, his family were proud of how he gave evidence at Smith’s trial, despite how scared he had been.
‘‘Our son is more of a man than you’ll ever be, because he told the truth,’’ the man told Smith.
In relation to the teen victim, Smith was sentenced on charges of abduction for sex, two counts of common assault, unlawful sexual connection and rape.
The charges Smith faced in connection with the older victim were rape, common assault, a representative charge of common assault, a representative charge of rape, a representative charge of unlawful sexual connection and one charge of indecent assault.
The defendant pleaded guilty to three common assault charges on the morning of his trial.
As part of his sentence, Smith was added to the child sex offender register.
"Our son is more of a man than you'll ever be, because he told the truth."