Blackmailer plans appeal over name suppression

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A woman found guilty of blackmail by a jury last year plans to appeal a sentencing judge’s refusal to grant her permanent name suppression.

The woman, for whom interim name suppression applies pending the appeal, and co-offender William Charlie Waihi aka William Donald Whittington, 36, each received six months home detention with six months post-detention conditions at sentencing in Gisborne District Court.

Judge Warren Cathcart said none of the material submitted in support of the woman’s application for permanent name suppression came close to the threshold required.

Counsel Nicola Wright has since told the court that decision will be appealed.

At trial last year, a jury heard the two accused threatened to make public a picture of a woman’s nude lower body and videos of her smoking methamphetamine while pregnant.

The pair demanded $2000 from her or a lesser amount with her vehicle.

They were persistent in their threats, with numerous phone calls and texts, but did not carry them out. The woman eventually told police she was being blackmailed.

For each of the pair, Judge Cathcart set a sentence starting point of 16 months and gave each of them discounts totalling four months, albeit for different mitigating factors.

Those for the female offender included her previous good character and her diminished role as an assistant to Whittington, who it was accepted had been the primary instigator.

Some of the reasons for discounts given to Whittington were suppressed.

Commuting the sentences to home detention, the judge said both offenders were suitable candidates. Prison terms were not appropriate for either.