Poutama Rawiti Clarence Owen appeared in the Hutt Valley District Court. Photo / RNZ, Samuel Rillstone
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ
A mental health patient who stabbed a stranger while on escorted leave had a history of violence and had previously stabbed two relatives.
He has now been made a special patient which means he is detained in hospital.
The judge says it is concerning that the latest attack happened while the man was in the care of mental health services and his traumatised victim says it should never have been allowed to happen.
She was walking home at the time and says both she and the offender have been “failed by a system that was meant to keep us all safe”.
Poutama Rawiti Clarence Owen appeared in the Hutt Valley District Court before Judge Michael Mika on Wednesday after earlier being found not guilty by reason of insanity on a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Court documents obtained by RNZ reveal that on November 14, 2024, Owen was on escorted leave in Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt.
About 7.40pm he walked along a street with “clenched fists” holding a black handled knife, with a sharp blade.
“Upon coming across the victim, the defendant has lunged towards her.”
Owen struck the woman in the left side of her neck with the knife. He then tried unsuccessfully to stab her a second time in the back before striking her a third time on the right side of her upper back.
The knife penetrated the victim’s neck and back.
At the beginning of Wednesday’s hearing the victim, who has name suppression, read a victim impact statement to the court.
In her statement, which she wrote more than a year ago, she said she had just got off a bus and was walking home with her dinner in her hand when she was stabbed in the neck, back of her head and back by what she thought was a flathead screwdriver by a man she did not know.
“Once I knew I was safe in the ambulance and had finally let the emotions hit I felt a lot of sadness, sad because I realised something must be seriously wrong for someone to stab someone who they did not know and to walk away as if nothing had happened.
“Sad because I couldn’t help but think both he and I had been failed by a system that was meant to keep us all safe.”
She said she was struggling to walk on the street where she was assaulted.
“I find it hard to be out in public spaces. I feel distrusting of others and uncomfortable in places with strangers. I find myself being easily startled, and this in itself has negatively impacted my sleep which has had its own knock-on effects.
“I find people coming from behind me frightens me and strangers coming towards me makes me feel anxious.”
The woman said it had been “incredibly exhausting” both mentally and emotionally for her and her family.
Upon learning of the “escorted leave mental health dynamic” the woman felt “incredibly sad and angry”.
“I am incredibly aware of how severe my situation was and how fortunate a number of my past experiences, current capabilities and know-how prevented this from being a much worse situation and perhaps even saved my life.
“It is with that in mind that I never want anyone else to experience and go through what I did, I don’t want blame and the additional harm that often comes with that, but responsibility which leads to actions which improves things, to ensure such things never happen again, because I want to be able to feel safe in my local community.”
The woman had recently updated her victim impact statement to include that over a year on her journey to heal from the trauma continued.
“It is extremely difficult to be able to move on from such harm on a street that I continue to walk most days, which serves as a regular reminder of what happened and what could have been much worse.
“We should all be able to feel and be safe in our neighbourhoods, which on that Thursday evening, we unfortunately were not. I hope for my own continued healing and wholeness, to be able to move on and find greater peace. But I also hope for healing and wholeness for the man who stabbed me.”
Owen’s lawyer told the court the 26-year-old had a “very basic understanding” of what was going on in terms of the court process.
“I’ve explained to him prior to call today that it’s recommended that he be made a special patient, I don’t think he really understands it.
“I’ve done my best to explain that he will, if an order was made, he’s going to stay in hospital for quite some time … his capacity to understand that is very limited.”
The lawyer said his position was to neither consent nor oppose the making of a special patient order.
The Crown prosecutor said she agreed with the recommendation that Owen be made a special patient.
Judge Mika told the court he had earlier found Owen not guilty on account of insanity.
“Mr Owen has a severe treatment-resistant illness, namely schizophrenia. He is currently presenting with chronic psychotic features including persecutorial delusions and somatic hallucinations, his current offending … reflects a well-established pattern of violence, violent behaviours where Mr Owen acted on delusional compulsion to protect himself or others from perceived threats.”
In September 2021, Owen stabbed a relative, the following year he stabbed another relative, Judge Mika said.
“Mr Owen’s violence is increasing in diversity of victims, initially family and now unprovoked attack on members of the community and also in diversity and severity.
“It is concerning that the current charge occurred while Mr Owen was in the care of mental health services. This highlights the difficulties and challenges for the mental health service of accurately predicting and identifying Mr Owen’s violent behaviours. The threshold for detention as a special patient is high, but in my view, in this case, that threshold has been met.”
Health New Zealand (HNZ) regional director mental health and addiction for Central Region Paul Oxnam said in a statement that HNZ acknowledged the incident and the impact it had on all those involved.
“We are committed to providing safe, high-quality mental health care.
“An in-depth Serious Incident Review of this event is in its final stages. The purpose of the review is to identify areas for improvement to avoid such an incident happening again. We have already taken steps to improve our services, including changes to the way escorted leave is managed.”
In a statement to RNZ, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey said any serious incident was a “cause for concern”.
“I have made it very clear to HNZ that public and patient safety must always come first. It is important that when incidents do happen, investigations and reviews are triggered and that recommendations are acted on.
“I am informed that an in-depth Serious Incident Review of this incident is in the final stages. It is my expectation that Health New Zealand will implement the recommendations of that review as quickly as possible. I am also informed that while the review is ongoing steps have already been taken to improve services.”