Former refugee apologises with cash and letter after knife threat in Nelson

Former refugee La Que held a large kitchen knife to a woman's face and said, "I'll kill you", when she arrived at a Nelson property to help his ex-wife pack her belongings. Photo / 123rf

A man arrived in court with $1000 in cash stuffed in an envelope and a letter of apology for the woman he threatened to kill with a large kitchen knife.

La Que, a former political refugee who created a new life for himself as a member of Nelson’s migrant community, was drunk when he arrived at his former wife’s address one night in July.

When he began behaving badly she called a family member for help and started packing her belongings so she could leave.

Que grew angrier when the relative arrived to help and asked if she “wanted a fight”. He then went into the kitchen and returned with a large knife that he held to her face and said: “I’ll kill you”.

The relative said in a victim impact statement she believed he might one day act out his threat.

Her fears meant she had stopped going on regular walks and she recalled the emotional distress she felt at the time, thinking Que would seriously hurt his former wife and their children.

“I have a dreadful fear of seeing him around and possibly carrying out his threat,” Judge Bill Hastings read from the woman’s statement.

“I have a constant lingering fear of him and his threat to kill me.”

Que was sentenced in the Nelson District Court today to two months of community detention and six months’ supervision on a charge of threatening to kill and threatening grievous bodily harm by way of stabbing.

He stood quietly in the dock, helped through language barriers by another family member who stood close by.

Que’s lawyer, Dave Holloway, said his client had arrived at court with an apology letter for the victim and an envelope full of cash, which he said was a clear expression of his willingness to make amends.

“It’s a genuine sign of contrition about what happened that night under the influence of alcohol,” Holloway said.

He said Que had been engaged with a local migrant community support network.

Holloway added Que had arrived in the country as a refugee, unable to speak English and had since held down a good job, and also learned to be a father to his children he shared with the woman he was now separated from.

The police acknowledged what happened on the night of July 19 this year was a “one-off” situation and possibly the result of cultural misunderstandings and being unfamiliar with New Zealand law.

However, it did not detract from their request for a protection order in favour of the victim, which Judge Hastings granted.

He said in sentencing Que that aggravating factors included the threat being made directly to the victim and the use of the knife.

He noted Que’s early guilty plea, the fact he self-referred to alcohol counselling and had offered to make an emotional harm payment of $1000, which Judge Hastings ordered him to make.

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.