Dunedin man jailed for four-hour, meth-fuelled attack on ex-partner

Martin Richard Cotton, 27. Photo / Rob Kidd

A Dunedin man on a sleepless week-long meth binge subjected his ex-partner to a violent four-hour ordeal, a court has heard.

Martin Richard Cotton, 27, had broken up with the woman five months before the incident in July last year, but the pair had been in sporadic communication, the Dunedin District Court heard this week.

After chatting online, the victim invited Cotton over to her home.

He turned up at midnight "incoherent, confused and unable to communicate rationally with the victim", a police summary said.

Cotton's attention was immediately caught by letters in the woman's bedroom that she had written to a friend.

The man shredded them and scattered the pieces around while ranting about how she should sever the relationship with the intended recipient.

Over the next four hours, Cotton rapidly lost control, the court heard.

The violence began with him punching the woman with such force "she felt the back of her head swelling and tightening".

Cotton pushed her face into the bedding to stifle her screams and inflicted more blows to her lower back.

"While the defendant continued to yell and rant, he also spat saliva on the carpets, furniture and at the victim", the court heard.

After a brief period of calm, the man's indignation was sparked again - this time by the fact his phone would not connect to the home's Wi-Fi.

The pair went downstairs, but before they could address the problem, Cotton grabbed the victim from behind with his arm around her neck.

They fell to the floor but it only infuriated him more.

He pulled her neck backwards so far that the victim felt as though it would break, the court heard.

Cotton released the woman when she bit him but resumed his dominance by pinning her to the carpet with his knee jammed into her jaw.

Forty seconds of force resulted in the victim's rear tooth breaking.

After she made a thwarted bid for escape, Cotton pulled the woman back upstairs to her room, where the attack continued.

"While holding his meth pipe in one hand, the defendant held a steak knife in his other hand and waved it around, causing her to fear for her safety," court documents said.

"The defendant raged for several hours during the night, turning over various items of the victim's furniture and property throughout her house."

It was only when Cotton fell asleep that the woman was able to leave.

When he was interviewed by police he said he remembered "flipping out" but had no recollection of the assaults.

Cotton accepted his ex-partner would not lie about the extent of the violence but he maintained not-guilty pleas for some months before changing his stance.

He had spent several months on electronically monitored bail, the court heard, but that ended when he cut off his bracelet and went on the run for 11 days.

Judge Turner outlined a report on Cotton, which assessed him as lacking maturity and insight into his behaviour.

His background was a "recipe for recidivism", the report writer said.

Cotton was jailed for two years, four months.