In a desperate bid to flee his attacker, the victim drove his car through a large fence and into a building at Nelson's Founders Heritage Park. Photo / Tracy Neal
A man was left permanently injured after a drug deal went wrong and he was stuck in his car with a knife-wielding attacker.
During the “sustained and persistent” knife attack he suffered inside the vehicle, the man tried reversing his BMW down the street, but with the use of only one hand, he crashed into a parked van.
He then rammed the car into forward gear and accelerated down the road, but crashed through a fence and into a building at a heritage park.
Fearing for his life, he tried to run but felt faint from loss of blood.
The man’s attacker, William Netane Popoia Johns, 30, has now been sentenced in the Nelson District Court to just over three years in prison on a single charge of aggravated robbery.
He initially faced further charges, including wounding with intent, but those were resolved earlier when Johns accepted the charge of aggravated robbery.
He now has 12 convictions to his name spanning several years, including one for dishonesty and “a whole bunch” more, which indicated non-compliance with court orders, Judge Tony Snell said.
He said Johns was on supervision for an earlier sentence when he further offended, leading to his current prison term.
According to court documents, around 10.30pm on November 4 last year, Johns and some associates were at a bar in central Nelson watching two men playing the pokie machines for several hours.
The man, later injured in the attack, was winning. He, too, had noticed Johns watching him throughout the evening.
The pair were introduced after the victim was asked if he wanted to buy drugs. Johns told him his name was “Anthony”, court records showed.
The victim, his friend and Johns left the bar, got into the victim’s car, and drove to a nearby street.
Johns told the victim to wait 10 minutes, then asked to see the money for the drug deal.
Johns left, then returned about five minutes later, got in the back seat of the car, then “lunged” at the victim with a knife.
He held it against the victim’s throat and yelled, “give me everything, give me all your money and everything you have”.
The victim seriously wounded his right hand while trying to stop the knife from cutting his throat.
Police said the knife cut through his hand and damaged tendons, which later required emergency surgery in Wellington.
With the knife pressed to his throat and his hand badly injured, the victim used his left hand to press the vehicle ignition button on his car.
Johns pulled the knife back, which cut the victim’s hand further.
The pair continued to struggle as Johns lunged at the victim with the knife again.
Thinking he would be stabbed, the victim grabbed the knife as it was about to hit his arm and continued to use his hand to try to stop the attack.
He then panicked, put the vehicle into reverse and accelerated backwards into a parked van.
The victim’s associate got out and fled as Johns remained in the vehicle armed with the knife.
By this stage, the victim, who was scared for his life, put the vehicle into drive and accelerated down the road, over a gutter and through a large fence before it smashed into a building in Nelson’s Founders Heritage Park.
The vehicle’s airbags went off, which allowed the victim to get out.
Johns, still in the car, grabbed the victim’s wallet with about $800 cash, then got out and started chasing the victim while still carrying the knife.
As the victim ran, he began to feel faint from loss of blood, but managed to call 111.
He was helped by members of the public and the police before being rushed to hospital as Johns fled.
The victim was transferred to Wellington Hospital for emergency surgery.
Police said he has been left with permanent damage, which has affected his ability to work.
Judge Snell said, in forming his view on a sentencing outcome, that premeditation was involved in what became a “sustained and persistent” attack with a knife.
“You had been watching this victim. You had seen him win money. You were clear that he had money on him.”
Judge Snell said the violence and use of the weapon added significantly to the degree of offending.
Thirdly, were the injuries and impact on the victim.
“He suffered significant injuries to his hand. He has got permanent tendon damage despite the best efforts of surgeons in Wellington, and he is going to have to live with those injuries for the rest of his life," the judge said.
“They are severely impacting his ability to earn a living.”
He categorised the robbery as a “hybrid” between that of a taxi driver and a street robbery, and set a sentencing starting point of four years and six months’ imprisonment, uplifted by one month to account for four new charges that were not before the court at the time.
Johns had also pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified for a third or subsequent time, two breaches of bail and a theft of petrol.
A further two-month uplift was added for the offending while on sentence, before credits for Johns’ guilty pleas and personal circumstances brought the end sentence to three years and two weeks, with a release date to be set by the Parole Board.
Johns was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.
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.