Jail for Northland man who spat at judge

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A Northland man who spat at a judge has been jailed for two months for contempt of court.

Tai Tepana Popata, 36, from Mangonui, was understood to have lodged an appeal against the sentences almost immediately when they were imposed.

Popata made his first appearance in Kaitaia District Court on Wednesday morning, for what was to have been a defended hearing on charges of assaulting a female, threatening to kill/grievous bodily harm and breaching a protection order.

The complainant, for whom arrangements had been made to travel from Whakatane, did not appear.

A warrant was subsequently issued for her arrest, after Judge John McDonald declined an invitation from counsel Wayne Cribb to dismiss the charges and remanded Popata in custody until December.

At that point, Judge McDonald said on Thursday, the defendant became incensed, directing a barrage of obscenities at the bench, calling the judge ignorant and an idiot, and telling him that the charges should be thrown out.

He then spat at the bench and the court registrar, and was held in contempt.

Popata was recalled that afternoon but refused to see a lawyer and was again highly disrespectful, Judge McDonald said, and was returned to the cells.

When Popata appeared on Thursday morning he was handcuffed but again abused Judge McDonald, who tried to offer him the opportunity to consult a lawyer. The judge was abused when he declined to discuss the defendant's wish to appoint a MacKenzie friend (who assists the litigant but is not necessarily a lawyer).

He was again returned to the cells, Judge McDonald recounting his appearances the day before for the record, saying the defendant had clearly played to the public gallery. The contempt of court provisions, he added, were designed to protect the integrity of the judicial system, not the sensitivities of individual judges.

Popata was sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment for his first contempt and two weeks, to be served cumulatively, for the second.