Hamilton man Ethan Vaughn jailed after running down partner in meth-fuelled attack

Hamilton man Ethan John Vaughn has been sent to prison after appearing in Hamilton District Court on a raft of charges. Photo / Facebook

WARNING: This story contains details of domestic violence.

A woman was so scared of her meth-fuelled partner that she jumped out of a moving vehicle to escape him and his threats.

But Ethan John Vaughn did not let her get far.

He followed her in his car and ran her down, sending her flying through the air for about 10 metres.

The July 16 attack last year culminated in Vaughn detaining her and not allowing her to seek medical treatment for her significant injuries.

Her ordeal began in the afternoon, when Vaughn turned up at the property where she lived with whānau.

He was told to leave, but he refused. He threatened to beat up the people at the house and drag the woman out, the Hamilton District Court heard.

The woman was scared he would carry out the threats, so she got into his car.

As Vaughn drove off, he threatened her with a knife, so she jumped out when the car came to a stop on Victoria St in Hamilton.

However, scared that he would follow her, she got back in and he drove off.

Vaughn then threatened to kill her as he drove through a red light while travelling at more than 100km/h.

He continued straight through a roundabout, narrowly missing several cars and overtaking others.

The frightened woman jumped out as Vaughn slowed to about 60km/h.

Ethan John Vaughn has a history of abusing the woman. Photo / Facebook

She rolled along the road and ran off. But Vaughn followed and ran her down, sending her flying.

She got up and ran a short distance before collapsing unconscious on the road.

Vaughn drove at her again, hitting her with the bumper of his car.

He then picked her up, put her in the car’s front passenger footwell and drove off.

She was in significant pain and pleaded with Vaughn to be taken to hospital.

He refused and instead detained her for 15 hours at his house, where he ordered her to stay away from windows and doors and not to call the police.

It was not mentioned in court who alerted the police. Officers found the woman at the house the next day, and an ambulance was called.

She suffered numerous injuries, including a fractured clavicle and eye socket, scrapes and cuts to her head, arms, hands, legs and feet.

At Vaughn’s recent sentencing, Crown solicitor Lexie Glaser argued that he was not remorseful.

“As evidenced by his history, he has continued to illustrate a behaviour which tends to show he has a desire to terrorise and subject the victim to repeated instances of violence.

“If he were genuinely remorseful, he would have made positive change.”

She said a pre-sentence report showed he minimised his actions and blamed the victim.

“At the time of the offending, he felt like the victim was ‘manipulating and disrespecting’ him and that he did not target her with his vehicle, claiming the victim ran at his car.”

But Glaser said CCTV footage, which showed the defendant “running her down” as she had her back towards him, painted a different picture.

Glaser submitted that a 50% minimum period of imprisonment (MPI) was appropriate because of the nature of the offending and Vaughn’s history of violence.

Defence counsel Gerard Walsh submitted that his client had endured a deprived upbringing and also had a drug addiction.

Vaughn had worked on his rehabilitation by completing courses while remanded in custody, Walsh said.

He argued against a firearms prohibition order and the MPI, submitting that it should be up to the Parole Board to decide when Vaughn was released.

‘She’s not your rehab’

Judge Stephen Clark labelled the offending as “a case of serious violence”.

“In fact, an escalation of violence against someone whom you have repeatedly offended against.”

He said the woman thought she was going to die that day.

“She says she will never get over the psychological abuse.”

Judge Clark was not impressed by Vaughn’s victim-blaming.

“It was you who went to her house ... and rammed into her with your car.

“You have a long history of violence against her. Ten convictions.

“In traditional Māori society, we don’t treat women as our punching bags. She’s not your rehab.”

A report found Vaughn was at high risk of reoffending, particularly against those with whom he was in a relationship.

Vaughn told the report writer that, when he ran the woman down, he had gone “a number” of days without sleep because of his methamphetamine use.

He said most of his offending happened when he was coming down from his drug high, as that was when he found it difficult to manage his thoughts and feelings.

In addition to the 14 charges Vaughn faced concerning the woman, including wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, kidnapping, possessing an offensive weapon, threatening to kill, and two breaches of a protection order, he also faced unrelated charges.

Those included breaching prison release conditions, dangerous driving, and failing to stop and ascertain injury.

Several charges related to Vaughn driving a stolen Lexus at speed on July 27 last year.

Police set up cordons to stop him, but he sped off, narrowly missing two officers as he travelled 100km/h in a 50km/h zone on the wrong side of Willoughby St.

His erratic driving continued until he got to the intersection of Mill and Tristram streets, where he crashed into an Audi, but did not stop to check if anyone was injured.

Vaughn continued before abandoning the car soon after the crash.

On all charges, Judge Clark jailed Vaughn for five years and 2.5 months, after applying various discounts to a 7.5-year starting point.

He declined to impose an MPI.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.