Hamilton man Jainesh Prasad, 40, will now face a deportation hearing after being convicted at Hamilton District Court on representative violence charges. Photo / 123rf
Hamilton man Jainesh Prasad, 40, will now face a deportation hearing after being convicted at Hamilton District Court on representative violence charges. Photo / 123rf
A Hindu priest is facing deportation after failing in his bid to avoid conviction for violence against a woman that included him pressing his fingers into her eyeballs, slapping her, and isolating her from others.
Over 12 months, Prasad set on a course of what the Crown described as controlling behaviour where he sought to control the woman’s finances, who she associated with and isolated her from others.
He was also violent, and called her employer to say she had stolen items from her work, which the victim alleged was a lie.
The protection order charge was laid after he called her employer claiming she had stolen items from work.
‘Relations were disintegrating and fraught’
In court, defence lawyer Katie Hogan said at the time of the offending relations between the pair were “disintegrating and fraught”.
A pre-sentence report found her client at low risk of reoffending and harm to others.
Prasad was also keen to attend restorative justice but the victim declined that.
Hogan submitted he had taken steps to rehabilitate, had not appeared before the court before, and had a job with Turners and Growers.
She argued convictions for Prasad would outweigh the gravity of his offending as an expert immigration adviser said if that happened he would likely be subjected to the deportation process.
“There’s a real and appreciable risk he will be deported,” she said, adding that the offending was not as serious as some other cases.
The Crown had also agreed to replace a more serious charge of strangulation with a lesser charge.
However, if the judge did not grant a discharge without conviction, Hogan urged him to hand down a sentence of community work and supervision.
Crown solicitor James Lewis said the victim lived in fear of Prasad while his assaults targeted her head and involved a breach of trust.
He submitted that deportation was “not a forgone conclusion”.
‘More concerned about the impact on him’
Judge Marshall first praised the victim for having the courage to read her victim impact statement to the court.
He also noted Prasad’s comment in the pre-sentence report, where he said he wasn’t happy finding out their relationship was over by somebody else.
“He found that distressing for a man of his standing,” the judge said.
Prasad explained one argument was caused by him getting upset that the woman hadn’t done the dishes before she went to work but he denied physically assaulting her.
The judge said his comments indicated a minimisation of his offending and the impact it had on the victim.
Judge Marshall accepted Prasad was a priest in the Waikato Hindu community and might face deportation if convicted, but ultimately found the offending “squarely in the moderate level” and declined his application for a discharge without conviction.
He then noted that Prasad’s remorse was “somewhat limited”.
“More limited to his view of the circumstances than what impact he has had on the victim’s life.”
Prasad was sentenced to 200 hours of community work and nine months of supervision.
