An Australian deportee punched his partner unconscious, cut up her clothes and spat in her face, a court has heard.
Misifosa Tapusoa (23) committed the violence after a slew of offences in the preceding months, the Dunedin District Court heard yesterday.
Counsel Anne Stevens QC said her client was only in the country because of his poor driving habits while living in Australia.
The convictions he picked up over there resulted in him being deported to New Zealand where he had no family support, she said.
“If he had been living at home a lot of this could have been avoided,” Mrs Stevens said.
“He was raised in a very strong family with lots of children and lots of responsibility.”
Judge Jim Large said it was “really sad” to hear about the situation in which Tapusoa had found himself.
But it did not excuse his crime spree.
“Whatever one might think about the Australian law and practice in deporting people who offended against their law, when you come here you must comply with our law or you end up in court and that’s exactly where you put yourself,” the judge said.
Tapusoa returned home drunk early on November 7, after drinking with friends.
He argued with his partner about her contacting an ex-boyfriend and directed his frustration at the television, punching the screen several times.
When the victim went to the kitchen to get her medication, Tapusoa punched her multiple times until she briefly lost consciousness.
A third party kept them apart but when they went to get ice for the woman’s face, the defendant struck again.
He inflicted more blows to her head, broke her cellphone and cut up all her clothes with a pair of scissors before packing them into bags, the court heard.
Tapusoa sat on the bed beside her, telling her he “needed to let his anger out”, and spat in her face.
He was convicted of assault with intent to injure and wilful damage.
Earlier, in July and August, when the relationship was more stable, the couple committed a series of dishonesty offences together.
Tapusoa took a range of items from unlocked vehicles making off with clothes and, on one occasion, $2500 of tools.
When spoken to by police, he claimed he only stole from vehicles.
On August 12, however, Tapusoa proved he was not quite so exclusive.
He went into New World and stashed several items into a bag before leaving without paying.
Judge Large noted the defendant had been in prison awaiting sentencing since November.
Against that background, he gave Tapusoa 12 months’ intensive supervision, which may include a stint in residential rehabilitation if assessed as suitable.
He was ordered to repay the money for the unrecovered stolen items and a protection order was made in favour of his ex-partner.
