An unemployed Auckland man who went "totally crazy" and threatened a woman with a knife at Cardrona village in January has been sentenced to 12 months' supervision on one count of assault with a weapon and one of possessing an offensive weapon.
Ryan Jack Capper (21), who had hitchhiked from Auckland, appeared in the Queenstown District Court this week.
On January 29, at 9.30am, police arrived at Cardrona to find Capper being calmed by a member of the public on the side of the road.
He had been staying with associates in the village and the trouble flared when he went back to the house brandishing a knife at one of the occupants "in clear view while making inflammatory comments". He was then chased into the street by one of the occupants.
He tried to flag down passing vehicles by standing in the middle of the road and waving his arms, before jumping in front of a car driven by a woman.
She stopped and wound down the window slightly. Capper walked up to her wielding the knife.
He waved the knife around and pointed the blade at the woman, who wound up the window and locked the car door. He then started kicking the driver's door.
The woman told police Capper was "being very angry and behaving totally crazy".
When police spoke to him, he initially denied having a knife, but later said he had the knife in his hand with the blade unopened.
He told police he had been driving his car to Queenstown when it had broken down in an associate's driveway in Cardrona. He was chased from the house by one of the occupants and had tried to flag down passing vehicles.
He said he was chased by two of his associates and slapped in the face by a female associate but again denied exposing the blade of the knife.
Sentencing Capper, Judge Dominic Flatley said the case had taken a "long and unusual route" because Capper had failed to turn up to court and had tried to vacate his initial guilty plea, saying his lawyer had not listened to him.
Judge Flatley said Capper's claim did not "ring true" and said he had been given "ample opportunity" to make the correct plea with his lawyer.
Judge Flatley also took into account the seven weeks Capper spent in custody after he first pleaded guilty.
Conditions of his supervision included that he not possess or consume alcohol or drugs, that he undertake psychiatric assessment and therapeutic follow-up if required, take any medicines prescribed and undertake any other counselling required by probation services.
Capper's sentence was deferred for one week to give him time to get back to Auckland.
