July 23, 2010

West Coast man jailed for strangling woman

By David Clarkson

Former Hokitika man Michael Kane Skelton has gone to jail for two years three months for a series of violent offences including strangling his partner into unconsciousness.

Christchurch District Court Judge David Saunders today told the 22-year-old: “There is always a risk that someone is likely to be seriously harmed by this type of action.”

Skelton’s supporters were in tears in the back of the courtroom in Christchurch, where he was sentenced after being found guilty of injuring with intent at a defended hearing in Greymouth, and later admitted a series of other charges.

The sentence included an additional two months for not doing earlier community work sentences. He had not attended while he had been working as a fisherman.

Concurrent terms were imposed for resisting the police, two charges of intentional damage, assaulting a man with intent to injure, assaulting a woman, and an earlier assault on the woman he eventually strangled.

Skelton had denied assaulting the woman during a domestic dispute on March 2. He said the woman held a knife to his throat and he had pushed her.

But Judge Saunders held that she had given “compelling and honest” evidence about being attacked by Skelton and strangled until she blacked out. Police photographs showed marks on her throat and the police file included copies of texts from Skelton apologising for what he had done.

It took five policemen to subdue him when he was arrested about seven hours after the incident.

Defence counsel Pat Butler said Skelton had quite a lot of ability and was bright and articulate. He had done a lot of voluntary work for the community, including being a member of the volunteer fire brigade in Marton, in the North Island, working with disadvantaged children on the West Coast for about three years, and being involved with Search and Rescue in Hokitika for a year.

He accepted that much of the offending had occurred while Skelton was already on bail. He had offered an apology during the interview for his pre-sentence report.

He noted that the woman Skelton strangled said in her victim impact report that she had not suffered any permanent damage or injury.

Judge Saunders noted Skelton’s heavy consumption of alcohol. “Where has it got you?” he asked the young man. “You haven’t got a house or a car or any real assets. It’s just got you jail time.”

He said Skelton had been in custody since the incident in March. “Bail has been refused because there was real concern about your volatility, your continuing to offend while on bail, and your clear abuse of alcohol.”

He had had chronic alcohol abuse for some time and the judge hoped he would undergo a treatment programme in prison before he came before the Parole Board for his release to be considered.

He had already undergone a programme to develop a safety plan to deal with his propensity for violence.

Judge Saunders told him: “You will only be seen as likely to have reduced your risk of offending if you have attended an alcohol programme within the institution.”