Hawke's Bay man jailed after horror domestic violence episode

A Hawke's Bay man who kidnapped and raped the mother of his child, breaching a protection order in place for the woman, has been jailed for nearly 10 years.

The 28-year-old, who cannot be named, appeared in the Napier District Court for sentencing yesterday after pleading guilty to rape, sexual violation, kidnapping, threatening to kill, assault with intent to injure and contravening a protection order.

All of the charges arose from a single incident on October 6 last year when the defendant contacted the complainant and asked to be picked up from a Hastings address.

She complied and drove to the address with their toddler where he then accused her of cheating on him when he had been in jail.

He pulled an ornamental machete from his pants and held it at her, punching her in the side of the face and holding the car's seat buckle closed while he continued to threaten and hit her.

The summary of facts states he told her "I'm going to show you what a real hiding is".

"He told her that she was never going to see her children again and that he was going
to kill her and take her where no one would find her body," the document read.

The man drove the woman's vehicle around the back roads of Hastings, slowing the car down and demanding she get out before accelerating again.

Their child became distressed and started to cry so she took the baby out of its car seat and held it in her lap.

The man held the machete across his lap, pointed at the complainant, and punched her head while she was holding the toddler, causing her head to hit the child's.

The car was driven to a river in Takapau where the 28-year-old told her to get out while holding the machete at her.

Scared of being hurt or killed, she told him "No".

He got a sleeping bag out of the boot of the car and laid it out before telling her to take her clothing and get on to the ground.

He then raped her and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Afterwards she climbed into the back seat with their toddler, who was still distressed and crying.

The man threatened to stab her with a machete when she refused to get out of the car and then bound her hands together with rope and told her to get into the boot.

She removed rubbish from the car in an attempt to stall for time and he then told her to get back into the car.

They then drove to Waipukurau where he pulled into a service station to get a lighter and the woman drove off without him after putting fuel in the car.

He arrived back at her address later that evening and apologised for his behaviour towards her.

At sentencing yesterday Judge Bridget Mackintosh said the woman's victim impact statement noted she was relieved he had admitted the offending.

"She expressed enormous relief at being able to go about her daily life without having to worry about how you were going to react to what she was doing."

The woman considered the episode a "terrifying episode of her life" that would take some time to recover from, the Judge said.

She sentenced him to nine years and seven months' imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of half of the jail term.