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A Lower Hutt woman who died in hospital just days after being assaulted – including being dropped in a gutter and punched in the head – died of unrelated causes, it has been revealed in court.
Police last year called for information from witnesses after the late-night assault, followed by53-year-old Lillian Wharton’s “unexplained” death four days later.
However, the cause of her death has now been unveiled as pancreatitis.
The man who assaulted Lillian Wharton was sentenced in the Hutt Valley District Court this afternoon. Photo / Melissa Nightingale
Judge Bill Hastings said in the Hutt Valley District Court this afternoon that the defendant had been drinking on December 14 and went to get the victim, who was drinking at a friend’s property.
“The summary of facts states that you struck her friend because you blamed him for making [the victim] so intoxicated,” Judge Hastings said.
The victim had trouble walking, so the defendant assisted her. She fell down several times, including falling from the footpath to the road.
He lifted her up from behind and punched the right side of her head. She was semi-conscious at the time and her arms were hanging by her sides.
He then intentionally dropped the victim in the gutter and walked away, before returning moments later and trying to lift her up.
A member of the public called the police, and other members of the public came out and helped bring the victim into their home.
The defendant and another person were eventually able to get the victim back to the property they had been taking her to, where he put her on the lounge floor and punched her several times with a closed fist.
Police arrived, wanting to ensure the victim’s safety, but the defendant refused them entry. They then enacted legislative powers allowing them to enter the home without a warrant, and came into the lounge to find the victim face down on the floor, bleeding from a cut to her forehead.
“She was helped to her feet and taken to Hutt Hospital where she died four days later,” Judge Hastings said.
According to defence lawyer Letitia Smith, a pathology report received just a few weeks confirmed the cause of death was pancreatitis, and was not connected to the assault.
The defendant has pleaded guilty to two counts of injuring with intent, assaulting with intent to injure, assault, and breaching supervision. Some of the charges are for unrelated matters.
In sentencing, Judge Hastings referred to a cultural report that made for “difficult reading”.
The report outlined how the man’s upbringing was marked by family violence and addiction. There were a “succession of violent partners” in the house, and the family moved home “constantly”.
Judge Bill Hastings sentenced the man to seven months in prison. Photo / NZME
He said aggravating factors of the offending included hits to the victim’s head, her vulnerability and “involved leaving her on the ground, then returning to essentially, what is described as ‘ragdoll’ her back to the address where you further assaulted her on the floor”.
Smith asked for a home detention sentence for her client, saying his employer had bought a property specifically for the defendant to serve his sentence at, but Judge Hastings said it was not an appropriate address because the employer had recent convictions on drugs and firearms matters.
He instead sentenced him to prison, but granted leave for him to apply for home detention if an appropriate address became available.
The judge allowed discounts to the sentence for the man’s guilty plea, cultural background and time spent on remand, bringing him to an end sentence of seven months in jail.
Smith applied for permanent name suppression, saying the man’s name had never been reported in connection to the death, and that even though the new information would make it clear he had not caused her death, the “inference” would nevertheless be drawn.
NZME opposed suppression, and Judge Hastings declined to grant it. Smith then advised she would appeal the decision, meaning there is an automatic suppression in place for at least 20 working days to give counsel time to file the appeal.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice, and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
