Frank Harris during sentencing in the High Court at Nelson, on a charge of attempted murder following a violent attack on his father at his home in Golden Bay. Photo / Tracy Neal
An argument over a water tank ended with a man trying to kill his father with an axe.
Frank John Harris is now serving a three-year and seven-month prison term after he was sentenced in the High Court at Nelson today on a charge of attempted murder.
A large contingent of family turned up for the hearing involving a case described by the Crown as “unusual from start to finish”.
That was because of the extreme violence committed by a person with no previous history and who had until then lived a quiet life in Golden Bay, prosecutor Abigail Goodison said.
She said he never believed he would do what he did.
She said the victim and his wife had demonstrated an “impressive capacity for forgiveness” after, as shown in the Restorative Justice process.
Defence lawyer Steven Zindel said it reflected greatly on how tight-knit the family was, and their capacity for mercy.
Zindel said the “crazy rupture” which had occurred would hopefully be fully repaired, and that Harris’ cannabis use had been an indirect factor in events.
Harris’ 78-year-old father was sitting in a chair on the back porch area of his Tākaka home last December when Harris approached wielding a long-handled wood chopping axe.
Harris’ stepmother was also injured as she deflected an apparent attempt by Harris to decapitate his father, the police summary of facts said.
He lost almost a litre of blood in the violent attack which also left him with a fractured skull, a broken wrist and tendon damage from a large cut, a deep cut to his right arm and shoulder and chipped bone, a deep cut to his forehead, a broken rib and bruising to his chest.
He was flown to Wellington Hospital where he underwent an emergency 11-hour surgery.
Justice Peter Churchman said in sentencing Harris it was an “aberrant incident” by a man who was otherwise a good friend to many, and good employee and well thought of member of the Golden Bay community.
Justice Churchman said the report by Restorative Justice was among the most favourable he had ever seen.
He credited the family’s compassion and ability to manage events with clear communication after what had been a “grave and traumatic event”.
Harris, 31, lived in a cottage on the property owned by his father.
Police said the property, surrounded by native bush, had multiple dwellings on it in which other family members lived.
Harris’ small cottage was at the top of the property from where he operated a small business growing and selling microgreens.
He had recently separated from his partner. The night before the offending on December 14, the pair argued about the purchase of a water tank Harris wanted for the microgreens business.
By mid-afternoon the next day Harris had set his cottage alight, destroying it, police said.
Harris then went to the main house where his father and stepmother lived. He picked up a long-handled wood chopping axe from a nearby workshop and confronted his father, stating: “I am the 7th son of Herbert Harris and I’m here to kill you.”
The victim’s wife came outside the house when she heard the commotion and heard Harris say he intended to kill the victim.
She saw Harris move forward and strike his father in the chest with the axe as he sat in a chair.
As he got up and staggered towards the door where his wife stood, Harris struck him with the axe two or three times more in the upper body.
He fell to the ground and was crawling up the steps towards his wife when Harris lifted the axe and swung it in the direction of his father’s head and neck in “a motion consistent with an attempted decapitation”, police said.
The victim’s wife intervened and the axe hit her elbow, which deflected the intended blow.
The victim’s eyes closed. Thinking he was dead, his wife yelled to Harris that he had killed him, and he dropped the axe and left.
Harris then went to see his brother who lived on the property, and told him he had “set his cabin on fire and just killed their father”, and that he wanted to go to the police station.
The brother found his father receiving first aid from his wife and a friend who was at the property.
By then, others had noticed the fire. Efforts were made to put it out using fire extinguishers but the fire was well involved, police said.
Harris was found on the main road and driven to the Tākaka Police Station where he handed himself in.
A note he handed to the police indicated a string of rambling thoughts, ending with: “Told myself to think it through. The weight of the axe and the thud as it hits my old man.”
Harris declined to make a statement other than the note he gave to police.
In March this year he wrote to his father, saying he was sorry that he “came down the hill and attacked him”, and he was sorry that “in that moment he wanted to kill him”.
He referred to “having lost wilful control of his body” and that his “emotional overwhelm had condensed into a violent act”.
He said at the end of the letter he was grateful his woodchopping practice “did not equal homicidal prowess”.
Goodison said the Crown acknowledged the victims’ views but crime was a public wrong, and victims’ views could not overwhelm the outcome.
She said the Crown, in submitting its views on appropriate sentencing, had to consider the interests of the community as well as the interests of private individuals.
In setting the final sentence, Justice Churchman awarded discounts for Harris’ rehabilitation prospects, previous good character, remorse and success at restorative justice.
He said Harris’ release would be determined by the Parole Board. He had confidence that Harris would embrace the rehabilitation programmes available to him.
He also had confidence in his potential to return to being a valued member of the community and his whānau.
A family spokesperson told media outside court they were relieved the justice system had demonstrated a flexibility which acknowledged the close and loving family, as well as the harm done.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.