New Zealand musician who assaulted girlfriend fights to keep name secret

Auckland District Court at 69 Albert street, Auckland. Photo / Nick Reed

• A musician found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend is appealing his sentence and the decision against name suppression.
• Judge Simon Lance sentenced him to 80 hours community work last month, rejecting a discharge without conviction.
• The man was acquitted of nine out of eleven charges, including the more serious allegations.

A musician found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend in what a judge described as “excessive self-defence” in a “toxic relationship” is appealing the decision not to grant him name suppression.

He is also appealing the sentence.

Auckland District Court Judge Simon Lance refused to grant the man’s application for a discharge without conviction and sentenced him to 80 hours community work.

Earlier this year jurors found the man bit his then-partner’s forearm on one occasion and used a plastic bottle as a weapon against her on another.

He was found not guilty of multiple other accusations that included strangulation and threatening to kill her.

The trial related to alleged interactions and assaults between the pair in late 2022 and late 2023.

The prosecution argued the man physically and psychologically abused the complainant, whereas the defence said the woman, aged 28, initiated the aggression and he only used force in self-defence.

At the time Judge Lance said while he had sympathy for the man, who is in his 50s, he did not believe the consequences of a conviction being entered were out of proportion.

The man had submitted he had suffered a significant financial impact from the charges.

“I’m not convinced that there are further consequences that occur on top of what has already happened,” Judge Lance said.

The judge accepted that the offending occurred in the context of what the defence described as a “toxic relationship” and it certainly wasn’t “one-way traffic”.

He said the man had been acquitted of nine out of the 11 charges, including the more serious allegations.

“I do think that more than likely the jury convicted you on the basis that the actions were excessive self-defence.”

In a victim impact statement, read by Judge Lance, the woman said she had suffered injuries including to her arm and head.

She said she had been left with “significant emotional distress” as a result and had missed days at work.

The victim had supported the man’s application for name suppression as she did not want to be identified.

Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.

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