Nathan Boulter appearing at the Auckland District Court, 2011. Photo / NZPA
Nathan Boulter appearing at the Auckland District Court, 2011. Photo / NZPA
A man who was jailed as a result of his obsession with his victim continued to pursue the terrified woman from behind bars, a court has heard.
Nathan Boulter (32) appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week after pleading guilty to threatening to kill and breaching a protection order.
The defendant had shown in the past he was capable with following through on his words.
Boulter made headlines in 2012 when he was jailed for eight and a-half years for kidnap and serious violence.
He pursued his former partner from Southland all the way to Great Barrier Island, where he held her captive for 38 hours and subjected to her to repeated assaults, leaving her with a chipped skull and crippling psychological injuries.
In July last year, he was jailed for 29 months on charges of threatening to kill and posting harmful digital communications involving a different woman.
The victim told the court she had never been in a relationship with Boulter and only knew him through a mutual friend.
The man would drive past her home and workplace frequently to the point where she would always have the curtains closed to evade his watch.
Boulter photographed vehicles outside the victim's home and sent the images to her, the court heard.
On one day, the defendant called the woman 300 times and left more than 100 voicemail messages. It was an "obsession", Judge Kevin Phillips said.
Police leading Nathan Boulter in handcuffs from the police launch at Mechanics Bay after his arrest on Great Barrier Island in 2011. Photo / Michael Craig
On October 5, while serving the sentence at Otago Corrections Facility for the stalking, Boulter was speaking to a prison officer after being confronted about covering the camera in his cell.
The prisoner said he expected to be released next year.
"He said he was going to go back to Invercargill to strangle his ex-partner and ... once he has strangled her he can get on with his life," a police summary said.
The officer tried to dissuade Boulter but he re-emphasised his intentions at least three times.
Just a couple of weeks later, the defendant wrote a letter to the victim. He addressed it to a house she had vacated but she was informed of the mail by the new resident.
It was then passed on to police.
"The tone of the letter ... was of a conciliatory nature, with the overriding theme of wanting the victim to rekindle their relationship and for the defendant to be given another chance," the court heard.
Nathan Boulter appearing at the Auckland District Court in 2011. Photo / NZPA
Judge Phillips said the sentiment showed Boulter had learnt nothing while locked up.
"You wish to rekindle a relationship that never existed in the first place," he said.
"Sending the letter shows your attitude to the victim has not changed despite the lengthy prison sentence you're serving."
Defence counsel Deborah Henderson said her client had a history of paranoid schizophrenia and never intended to follow through on the threats he made.
The judge imposed an extra nine months on top of Boulter's present prison sentence, meaning it was likely Boulter would see the Parole Board later this year.
