James Richard Watson, 39, was jailed for two years and four and a-half months when he appeared in the Dunedin District Court in February on charges of kidnapping, assault in a family relationship, threatening behaviour, dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice.
Watson challenged the outcome in the High Court, arguing that he should have received home detention, but in a decision released last month, Justice Jonathan Eaton upheld the lower court’s sentence.
In November 2021, just a month after he had been discharged without conviction for family violence against the same victim, Watson turned up at the woman’s home.
He told her she was selfish for breaking up with him.
"I will slit your throat, you rat," Watson said, while standing over her with his fist clenched.
A couple of months later he saw the victim driving in Kenmure Rd and tried to run her off the road with his vehicle.
Watson struck her with a beer bottle then demanded she accompany him to her home.
The court at sentencing heard how the man followed the victim around, watching her in the shower, blocking her from leaving and preventing her from activating a family-harm alarm.
Watson only let her leave the house the next day — 11 hours later.
While on electronically monitored bail, during which he was banned from contacting his ex-girlfriend, he pressured her to retract the allegations she had made to police.
She eventually obliged but when officers analysed Watson’s phone his influence was clear.
Over less than four months, Watson had bombarded her with 558 calls and messages.
At times he threatened to send explicit photos of the victim to her friends and family and on other occasions he tried to sweet-talk her with promises of love.
Counsel Brendan Stephenson said the sentencing judge had not given Watson sufficient credit for his personal factors.
The defendant had shown insight into his offending and had shown a commitment to therapy, he argued.
A report assessed Watson’s drug abuse as "severe" and Mr Stephenson said his client's actions had "the mark of a man losing emotional regulation".
But Justice Eaton was not persuaded those factors should amount to a reduction in sentence.
"While I accept Mr Watson was abusing methamphetamine at the time of this offending, he has not demonstrated a strong causative link between his addiction and the offending," he said.
"The current offending appears to be driven by a sense of entitlement and an unhealthy attitude within personal relationships."
