The girl began her relationship with the man when she was 17 and was immediately controlled. Photo /123RF
WARNING: This article discusses domestic violence and may be upsetting to some readers.
Chaos erupted in court as a man was jailed for subjecting his young partner to ongoing violence and suffocating an infant with a pillow.
One of Michael Daniels’ supporters criticised the judge while two others tried to lunge at a security guard during the sentencing.
But amid the noise, Judge John McDonald’s words cut through the courtroom as the 29-year-old Kaikohe man stood smirking in the dock.
“And you stand there smiling now about all of this, how am I the only one who’s angry about this?” the judge asked, directing his comments to the supporters in the back who began yelling and were told to sit down.
Daniels appeared for sentencing in the Whangārei District Court this week on 29 charges of violence towards his family members dating back to 2021. A jury found him guilty at the Kaikohe District Court earlier this year, despite a victim backtracking and choosing not to give evidence against her partner.
Daniels’ supporters, including his victim, were present in court for the sentencing and when Judge McDonald warned them to keep their comments to themselves as he read through the details of the assaults, tensions erupted.
One woman began calling Judge McDonald a “naughty judge” and accused him of influencing the jury resulting in her being ejected from court by at least four security guards.
As she was being removed from court, two other female supporters attempted to lunge at a female guard and directed expletives at her.
The court heard Daniels had entered into a relationship with the victim when he was 26 and she was 17 and almost immediately began to control her life.
“Your whole relationship with her involved acts of serious violence against her. The jury heard all this evidence and they accepted it and it continued on and on and on,” Judge McDonald said.
Police were aware there was serious family harm occurring and because of the diligence of one officer who saw a small window of opportunity on one occasion managed to obtain an evidential interview from the victim.
The evidential interview played to the jury disclosed she was not allowed to go anywhere, do anything or see anyone without his approval and his rage would be set off over the smallest thing.
“One would almost describe her as a battered woman,” Judge McDonald said.
“Your frame of mind you have, any small thing you got upset about set you off.”
On one occasion when the woman was pregnant, he punched her then made her strip off and walk naked into the night. There were also multiple occasions over the years he assaulted her, including one instance of strangulation where she lost control of her bladder.
“You said ‘You’re gonna die, die b**** you’re nothing to me, you’re a useless piece of s***,” Judge McDonald repeated.
When one of their children was born, Daniels would become angry whenever the baby cried and would tell her to “shut your child up”.
As Judge McDonald said this, Daniels began smirking in the dock.
Daniels was also found guilty of suffocating an infant with a pillow over the head to stop it from crying and once arrested and released on bail, fathered two further children to her while there was a no-contact condition in place.
“You were granted EM bail to an address just down the road from where she was living ... She was always around you, so it was no surprise, so often in serious family violence, when she finally got to court and I had to issue a warrant for her arrest she tried to say what she told the police was an absolute pack of lies.”
Judge McDonald commended the jury who “rejected her retractions and rejected you.”
This comment set off the large crowd of female supporters of Daniels who were removed from the court before Judge McDonald sentenced Daniels to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
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