Christchurch teen sentenced for threatening infant with kitchen knife

The man grabbed a 30-centimetre kitchen knife during a Snapchat conversation with the infant's mother and made the threat.

A teen who was arguing with a woman on a Snapchat call held a 30-centimetre kitchen knife between his cell phone and a five-month-old baby before asking her mother, “Should I do it?”.

The baby was at the 19-year-old’s address last June and during the day he was in contact with her mother via phone and messaging apps.

They began arguing over various issues before threats were made at 6pm, when he sent her a Snapchat video of the girl in her cot saying, “If you don’t hurry up, I’m going to suffocate the baby”. .

During another video call, he went to the kitchen and got the knife.

He returned to the baby and held the phone above her cot while positioning the knife so that the mother could see it. He then said, “Should I do it?” before returning the knife to the kitchen.

The teen also reached into the cot, grabbing the baby by the ankle and lifting her legs up, leaving only her head on the mattress.

His actions scared the mother and police were called.

Judge Tony Couch considered placing a blanket suppression on proceedings when the teen appeared in the Christchurch District Court for sentencing this week on charges of threatening to kill/do GBH, manually assaulting a child and possession of an offensive weapon.

NZME successfully argued against that on the grounds Judge Couch had already told the court the defendant was facing serious charges and that a weapon (knife) had been involved.

The court provided NZME with a summary of facts in which the teen denied the threats and holding the knife to the baby, stating he had a knife in his hand because he was making noodles.

He admitted lifting the victim in her cot and holding his hand over her mouth because he was frustrated with her crying. In explanation, he said he was “flustered and overwhelmed”.

The girl wasn’t injured as a result of the assault.

At sentencing on Wednesday, Judge Couch said the charges were serious, particularly as they were in relation to a defenceless baby, but that he did not intend to follow conventional sentencing for the teen, who has previously been before the courts.

The judge said he had read a cultural report, a clinical psychologist’s report and an affidavit from a psychologist, which had given him insight.

He ordered a sentence of two years’ intensive supervision.

Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the past 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the HC Post, based in Whangamata. He was previously deputy editor of Cook Islands News.