Protection orders will be enforced without fail

FILE

People who breach protection orders will be prosecuted, a Rotorua inspector has said, regardless of how small the breach.

A Rotorua man was recently charged with breach of a protection order after allegedly sending a Facebook friend request to the protected person, Inspector Stu Nightingale said.

Mr Nightingale said victims of violence had more rights than they might realise and should check the details of their protection orders to make sure they stayed safe.

Earlier this week Mandeep Singh, 29, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the murder of his wife, Parmita Rani, 22, the day after she left him.

University of Waikato Psychology senior lecturer Dr Neville Robertson, who specialises in family violence, said "these are not crimes of love, these are crimes of ownership".

Mr Nightingale, who is the prevention manager for the Rotorua area, said that comment resonated with him and the family violence team at the Rotorua police station, particularly in the last couple of weeks when they had been contacted by victims.

"Some men think they have a right to hold on and continue to manipulate [victims]," he said.

He said this week a woman had contacted police after her former partner sent a friend request on Facebook. Mr Nightingale contacted the man.

"He said he wanted to contact her to sort out the relationship but he hadn't grasped the function of the protection order. It's about giving the applicant the space and right to determine who makes contact with them.

"Breaching the protection carries a maximum sentence of three years. He started to realise there's quite a lot at stake. Protection orders aren't a grey area.

"Police will take a proactive approach and charge offenders and put them before the court."

He said protection order breaches happened frequently and he was often contacted by people who had orders in place seeking help.

Mr Nightingale said on the surface some of the reasons why people contacted him were what others might consider "low-level".

"But it could be the straw that breaks the camel's back for our victims. I agree that these aren't crimes of love, they are crimes of ownership."

He said the Rotorua family violence team was available for victims to contact if they needed any help with protection orders.