A man who held his previous partner hostage for 15 hours, strangling her twice and forcing her to take MDMA, has failed to have his sentence reduced.
The Southland man, who has permanent name suppression, appealed his sentence to the High Court at Invercargill last month, arguing the starting point for the leading charge of kidnapping was too high.
The offending happened in February 2023 after the victim told her partner of two years she wished to end their relationship and go away for the weekend with a friend.
At the bar, the man argued with her, telling her not to go away for the weekend and repeatedly asking to see her phone.
The woman again said that she no longer wanted to be in a relationship with the defendant but reluctantly, and somewhat fearfully, the decision said, agreed to go home with him.
Her ex-partner sped out of Tuatapere heading towards Te Anau, arguing the status of their relationship.
About 20 minutes later, the man pulled over and, when his victim undid her seatbelt and attempted to escape, grabbed her arm and restrained her by her bra strap until it snapped.
He then came around to the passenger side, grabbing her and shoving her back inside the vehicle.
Her phone fell to the ground and was lost in the struggle.
While the victim was lying across the front seats the man grabbed her by the throat, saying "you shouldn’t do that".
He then told her to look him in the eyes while he held her throat for up to 30 seconds as she struggled to breathe.
When the pair resumed the journey, the woman attempted to grab the keys and the man again stopped the car, climbed partially on top of her and strangled her.
The victim told police she thought she was going to die.
When they arrived in Te Anau around midnight, the defendant said he had some MDMA and wanted the victim to take it with him.
She told him she did not want to take the substance, but she felt compelled to do so, snorting the powder off his phone case.
The next day, the victim returned home, but did not tell her family what had occurred.
Later, at a friend's address the defendant was asked repeatedly to leave, a scuffle ensued when the victim tried to grab her bag from his car.
The man grabbed the victim’s wallet and finally left.
In the following days, he spent $3136 with her stolen eftpos card.
On appeal, counsel Paige Noorland said the judge’s starting point of four years’ imprisonment for the charge of kidnapping was excessive.
But Justice Dale La Hood dismissed the appeal, saying the two instances of strangulation during the woman's detention made the starting point "unobjectionable".
"An abuser who strangles a victim may not be intending to kill, but is demonstrating that they can kill," the judge said.
The judge ruled the end sentence of three years on charges of kidnapping, strangulation, assaulting a female, dishonestly using a bankcard and possessing cannabis was not "manifestly excessive".
