A man who hospitalised and permanently disfigured two police officers - giving one a concussion after hitting them both over the head with a heavy frying pan - has been sentenced to prison.
Shadze Ryan, 25, handed over a handwritten apology today as he appeared before Judge Kate Davenport in an otherwise empty courtroom at Auckland District Court. He was intoxicated at the time of the attack, his lawyer said.
“My head was throbbing, I felt sick and I was covered in blood,” one of his victims recounted in a written victim impact statement that was read aloud by the prosecution. “This was the first time I felt completely helpless ... ”
Ryan, a Papakura resident who had never held a driver’s licence, was behind the wheel of a BMW improperly registered with a false name and address when the officers tried to conduct a traffic stop in East Auckland’s Point England on the evening of September 19 last year.
He initially stopped the vehicle but sped off as the officers approached.
“After fleeing from the vehicle stop, Mr Ryan drove at a high speed along Pilkington Rd,” the agreed summary of facts for the case states. “Mr Ryan drove onto the wrong side of the road to overtake several vehicles. Traffic at the time was heavy and Mr Ryan’s driving was dangerous under the circumstances.”
Ryan then abandoned the vehicle at a nearby Mt Wellington home and ran inside, where he hid in a bedroom wardrobe until the officers, still in pursuit, found him. He at first appeared compliant but then grabbed the female constable by her vest as she tried to put him in handcuffs, court documents state.
“Mr Ryan began pulling [her] and dragged her into the kitchen of the property,” the summary of facts states, adding that the male constable then “attempted to subdue Mr Ryan with punches, which were having no effect”.
In her victim impact statement, the female constable said the way Ryan stared into her eyes without breaking eye contact as he grabbed her vest was terrifying. It was like he had flipped a switch, she said.
Ryan then threw her to the kitchen floor, where she hit a wall.
“As [she] attempted to stand up, Mr Ryan uplifted a metal frying pan which was in the kitchen,” court documents state. “Mr Ryan swung the frying pan towards [her], striking her on the right side of her head.”
He then swung the pan in an overhead motion towards the male constable, striking him twice on top of his head.
“Following the arrival of additional police staff, Mr Ryan was finally arrested,” documents state.
Both officers were taken to hospital, where they remained until the next morning.
“This incident highlights the extreme propensity of violence some people are prepared to use against our police officers,” Inspector Rachel Dolheguy, who serves as Auckland East Area Commander, said the day after the incident.
“Thankfully both officers ... are now at home with their families. We are working closely with them to oversee their welfare. We are understandably concerned for our colleagues and wish them a speedy recovery.”
The female officer described receiving stitches to her face, where a deep scar is still visible. She suffers ongoing numbness and nerve issues, she said.
“I felt blood run down my head and drip all over the floor,” the male officer recounted in his written victim impact statement, adding that his hair and body armour were completely soaked in his own blood.
In addition to the physical ailments, which also included headaches and fatigue for the concussed female officer, both suffered psychological harm, the judge noted today.
The male officer, who serves as a member of the Armed Offenders Squad, said he noticed his heart would race when asked to clear a house in the weeks that followed the incident. The female officer described how she has long cherished her job as a police dog handler but questioned her role with police in the attack’s aftermath, as she spent about six weeks off-duty recovering.
Ryan pleaded guilty to five charges related to the evening of the attack on the officers: failing to remain stopped for an enforcement officer, driving dangerously, resisting police and two counts of aggravated wounding with a weapon. He faced a sentence of up to 14 years’ imprisonment for the wounding charges.
He also pleaded guilty to an earlier, unrelated incident in which he repeatedly punched his partner in the face - possibly breaking her nose - after she tried to take his keys so he wouldn’t drive drunk with his children.
“Police officers deserve to be safe in ... their duties,” Crown prosecutor Michael Kilkelly told the judge today. “For an incident like this to occur is traumatising and difficult to comprehend.”
Defence lawyer Angela Roebeck noted that her client is illiterate and it took him eight months to carefully compose his remorse letter with the help of a legal aid. She asked that his end sentence reflect discounts for his early guilty plea, remorse and his traumatic childhood.
“He’s incredibly remorseful for what he’s done and what he’s put the police through on that day,” she said.
Judge Davenport described the attack on the officers as “incredibly vicious and without thought”.
“I condemn you for doing that to them,” she said, adding that the attack on his own partner constituted “another black mark against you”.
But the judge agreed with the defence that Ryan’s childhood was far less than ideal, having spent a difficult time in state care before returning to his parents and fathering his first child at age 13. With a starting point of eight years and eight months’ prison, she allowed a 25 per cent discount for his early guilty plea, a 15 per cent discount for his deprived upbringing and a modest 5 per cent discount for remorse.
Ryan’s end sentence was four years and nine months’ imprisonment.
He will hopefully use some of that time in custody for self-improvement, including learning to read, the judge commented before he left the courtroom.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.