A senior police officer reviewing the drunken attack on a Wakari woman considered charging the offender and offering diversion but decided the 21-year-old was unable to form intent due to her drunken state, police emails reveal.
Ivy Ding was home with her young son and elderly mother in August when a drunken 21-year-old student smashed Ms Ding's bedroom window and grabbed her, causing cuts to her hands.
Police emails released to the Otago Daily Times under the Official Information Act show Senior Sergeant Dave Scott, the officer who reviewed the attending constables' actions, considered charging the 21-year-old and offering diversion but found the case did not meet the Solicitor-general's guidelines for prosecution.
''She has no memory of the night due to intoxication,'' Snr Sgt Scott said in an email to acting Otago Coastal area commander Inspector Mel Aitken, acting Southern district commander Acting Superintendent Jason Guthrie and district victims manager Senior Sergeant Matt Scoles.
''She is horrified she is the offender. She appears willing to try and make things right.''
The emails revealed police wanted the student - whom the ODT decided not to name - to attend alcohol counselling after the incident.
Police also spoke to the student about compensating Ms Ding and apologising to her.
Ms Ding did not want to meet the student in person and instead Snr Sgt Scott delivered a letter of apology from the student to Ms Ding, the emails showed.
Some parts of the emails were redacted, including the entire content of an email between Snr Sgt Scott and one of the attending constables.
However, Southern police explained their reasons for redacting some aspects of the emails as they contained information about how police carried out their work, to protect the privacy of individuals involved or to withhold the opinion of officers involved.
Police also trespassed the student from Ms Ding's address.
A statement in the police file from the attending constable, which was also provided to the ODT, showed police were concerned about what state the offender would be in when confronted.
A woman from the house next door to Ms Ding's told the attending constable ''that she managed to calm the female ... but was concerned that the sight of police would set her off''.
Based on this information, the constable was ''expecting to confront a violently deranged person''.
''I entered the lounge of the dwelling and encountered a female aged in her mid-20s asleep on the couch,'' the police file said.
''It was clear from brief initial questioning that she did not comprehend that we were police officers or why we were present or what had happened prior to our arrival.''
The student was in a ''dream state, disassociated to the present dealings or environment''.
''She was emotional and distressed, rambling incoherently about unrelated and irrelevant things,'' the officer said.
''It was clear she was highly intoxicated.''
The offender's behaviour was ''completely out of character'' and arrest was unnecessary and it was apparent ''on the face of it that mens rea was not present''.
Mens rea is Latin for guilty mind and refers to the ability to form intent.
University of Otago dean of law Prof Mark Henaghan earlier told the ODT intoxication could form a legal defence if the person carried out their actions without conscious thought or intention.
