Titford appeals convictions and 24-year sentence

Allan Titford, who was handed the longest sentence in Northland for violence and sex crimes against his family over two decades and an arson he blamed on Maori, is appealing his convictions and sentence.

Titford, 53, was jailed last month for 24 years at the High Court in Whangarei after being found guilty of 39 offences, including rape and arson.

The charges he was found guilty of by a jury included 14 charges of assault with a weapon, seven of assault, four of assaulting a female, three of assaulting a child, three of sexual violation, two of arson, and single charges of using a document with intention to defraud, threatening to kill, assault using a weapon, perjury, attempting to pervert the course of justice and discharging a firearm.

The alleged offences occurred between 1987 and 2009. Titford maintains his innocence.

His ex-wife Susan Cochrane and three of her seven children, Alyssa, James and Elanda, waived their right to privacy and read out victim impact statements in court so Titford could be named.

Ms Cochrane said Titford kept her as a prisoner and beat her children with a belt, shovel, hammer, fists and a plastic pipe. Titford blamed Maori for burning down his home on his Maunganui Bluff farm, a crime the jury found he committed.