An analysis of the drug methamphetamine and its usage in NZ.
Renee Gunbie lost her hand in a P-fuelled attack by Antoine Dixon. Nearly 15 years later, she's been sent to prison on serious methamphetamine convictions.
A woman whose hand was severed by samurai sword wielding Antoine Dixon* in a P-fuelled rampage has herself been imprisoned for dealing methamphetamine.
And she received a hefty discount on her prison sentence because of the trauma Dixon inflicted on her.
Renee Joy Gunbie lost her right hand in theterrifying 11-hour ordeal in the Hauraki Plains in January 2003, in which Dixon also cut off the hands of Simonne Butler, before driving north to Auckland and shooting James Te Aute.
Dixon was twice convicted of murdering Te Aute, as well as wounding the two women with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, in two trials which shocked New Zealand and brought the perils of the drug P into the national psyche.
He was found dead in his prison cell in 2009, aged 40.
Doctors reattached the hands of Simonne Butler and she was able to turn her life around, but her friend Renee Gunbie was dragged back into the criminal underworld and drug addiction.
The Herald on Sunday can reveal Gunbie was arrested in March 2016 after a covert police investigation called Operation Bunk targeting a methamphetamine distribution chain.
She pleaded guilty to nine charges of possession or supply of the Class-A drug - a total of 382g over a three-month period - and two charges of possessing iodine, which is used in the manufacturing process.
Renee Gunbie pictured outside court in 2003. Photo/Derek Flynn.
Name suppression was lifted in the High Court at Auckland on December 8 where Justice Paul Davison sentenced Gunbie to 5 years and 7 months in prison.
The starting point was 9 years but the sentence was cut by 15 per cent because of the guilty pleas.
She received a further 25 per cent discount because of her personal circumstances - namely the trauma suffered at the hands of Dixon.
A psychologist's report given to Justice Davison diagnosed Gunbie with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which will become worse in prison and lead to anxiety and depression.
The report was of "considerable assistance" said Justice Davison, but he did not traverse the details in his judgment or mention Dixon by name.
"You know what the contents are," Justice Davison said of the report to Gunbie.
"Your condition is triggered by a number of things present in the prison environment. In particular, being behind locked doors and confined reminds you of events in your past during which you were detained and injured.
"You also continue to suffer the effects of a head injury inflicted on that occasion."
Her PTSD is likely to become worse in prison and expose Gunbie to anxiety and depression. Because of the "disproportionately severe effect" of prison on Gunbie, and her expressions of remorse, Justice Davison reduced her sentence by 25 per cent.
"The psychologist's report makes it clear that being imprisoned will be much more difficult for you than it is for other people," said Justice Davison.
"A shorter period of imprisonment will be as difficult for you as a longer period of imprisonment."
Simonne Butler has turned her life around and is now an advocate for survivors of domestic violence. Photo/Greg Bowker.
Gunbie had stopped using P in 2003, the year of the Dixon attack, and started again only recently according to another sentencing report.
This is because she moved into the home of her friend Toni Clare Nikora, who was supplying methamphetamine to low-level dealers.
Gunbie became part of the supply chain for Nikora, who along with Gerrard Gordon Parkes, were the two main targets of Operation Bunk.
Nikora was sentenced to 10 years in prison on 70 charges of supplying or possession of the Class-A drug and another seven charges of supplying or possession of GBL, a Class-B drug.
Parkes, considered by Justice Davison to be higher than Nikora on the supply chain, was sent to prison for 11 years for supplying methamphetamine to her.
"In short, this was for you a commercial undertaking that you chose to involve yourself in to make money, and one in which you took advantage of those who were the consumers of methamphetamine, while ignoring the damage to their lives and the distress caused, not only to them, but also to their families by the use of the pernicious and destructive substance which is methamphetamine."
Parkes received an extra year in prison for attempting to corrupt two witnesses, in a different trial, with a $10,000 bribe to stop them giving evidence against his friends.
* Dixon's Christian name was misspelt publicly as Antonie for 10 years until 2013, when a Herald on Sunday reporter discovered his name was Antoine.
Trail of destruction
2003: Fuelled by P, Dixon attacks Simonne Butler and Renee Gunbie with a samurai sword in Pipiroa before driving to Auckland and shooting James Te Aute dead.
He then holds Ian Miller hostage in his home.
2005: At his trial Dixon claims he is insane. He is found guilty of murder, grievous bodily harm, firearms charges and shooting at police.
