“This was a serious breach of a protection order. It was a deliberate invasion of a protected person’s home,” Judge Russell said.
Gilchrist, who was sentenced on charges of breaching a protection order and breaching prison release conditions, has now racked up nine breaches among his list of 80 convictions.
Alcohol was always the catalyst in his life marked by a “strong propensity for violent offending”.
But he hadn’t shown any indication he planned to change the habit, the court heard as Gilchrist looked on via video link from where he was in custody.
In April 2010 Gilchrist was served with a final protection order against the victim.
In April this year, he was released from prison on other matters with conditions that included he was not to associate with the victim - a woman in her 70s that he has known for some time - without approval from probation.
But, on the morning of May 29 Gilchrist went to the woman’s Nelson address and let himself in through an unlocked front door. He then approached the woman and tried to hug her but she refused.
Gilchrist began pacing around with his fists clenched, which terrified the woman who lived alone and who had helped Gilchrist financially over the years.
She was too afraid to ask him to leave so called a friend for help who then called the police.
Gilchrist later said he’d been at the neighbouring house having a cigarette and that the victim had gone there to see him.
He was described in reports as intelligent and articulate when not in trouble. He had lived a transient lifestyle when not in prison, travelling the country and living in night shelters.
Judge Russell said a probation officer’s report said Gilchrist had “somewhat of an obsession” with the victim, and the need to keep helping her with the property.
“She says when you are intoxicated she fears for her safety. She had concerns you may come to visit her.”
Defence lawyer Tony Bamford said when Gilchrist drank he lost judgement about boundaries, which included his ability to follow court orders.
The report also noted he had not engaged with any of the conditions of his release and displayed a “strong sense of entitlement”, telling probation of the victim that he “didn’t need f*****g permission to see her”.
Gilchrist also suggested the court was responsible for some of what he’d done wrong.
Judge Russell said he would have thought that Gilchrist having been assessed as intelligent would have had more regard for court orders and what the law provided.
From a starting point of 29 months in prison, Gilchrist was given credit for an early guilty plea but Judge Russell said a custodial sentence was the only way to hold him to account for the harm done.
He was sentenced to 20 months in prison, without the option of being able to apply for home detention.
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.
