Jail for repeated attacks on partner

A man has been jailed after repeated attacks on his partner.

The level of domestic violence in society was unacceptable, said a judge before sending to jail a Northlander who repeatedly bashed his partner after she refused his request to lie in court for him.

David Brass, 45, subjected his 21-year-old partner to numerous beatings, mostly to her head, over two days until a nurse at a hospital helped her escape.

He pleaded guilty before the start of his trial last month to three charges of injuring with intent to injure, one of threatening to kill and another of assault with intent to injure.

Brass was sentenced to three years and three months' jail when he appeared for sentencing in the Whangarei District Court on Friday.

Judge John McDonald said Brass, who was under the influence of methamphetamine when he assaulted his partner, was lucky he was not facing kidnapping charges.

"Men think, no doubt by their actions or words, they make it abundantly clear to much smaller species such as women that they have the power over life and death," Judge McDonald said.

"Domestic violence is rife in our society. Latest research shows every six minutes a woman is assaulted by her partner in this country. That is unacceptable."

Brass and his partner started a relationship when she was 15 and now had two children, the court was told.

On May 7, 2014, Brass was summonsed to appear in the Kaitaia District Court on one charge of sustained loss of traction. Later, in the court foyer, he spoke to his partner and tried to get her to say she was the driver so he could avoid a conviction. She refused and an annoyed Brass had to plead guilty to the charge, but he later took it out on the woman.

At one stage during the beatings, she had to lock herself in the bathroom but was punched five times in the face when she opened the door.

Judge McDonald said the beatings stopped when visitors arrived. On other occasions, she was strangled, verbally abused, and kicked in the stomach.

The pair no longer live together and Judge McDonald granted her a domestic violence order against him after she requested it.

Crown solicitor Mike Smith said the community was concerned about domestic violence and he highlighted a prolonged series of violent acts, particularly strangulation, that Brass perpetrated on his partner.

The lawyer for Brass, Tracy Spencer, said by pleading guilty, her client saved his victim from giving evidence in court. He had mental health issues and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and psychotic disorders.