A man who punched a woman in a bottle store before dragging her out by her hair and into an awaiting car has been jailed.
However, Raniera Tengouingou Te Kira Turner will likely be out before Christmas due to time already served in custody after the kidnapping and assault inside, and out the front of, the Bottle-O liquor store in Ngāruawāhia earlier this year.
The incident, which was caught on CCTV footage, played out in front of a number of people and left the victim with several injuries.
Today, the 28-year-old assailant was back before Judge Paul Mabey KC in the Hamilton District Court for sentencing, after last month admitting charges of kidnapping and a reduced charge of male assaults female.
In arguing for a reduced sentence, his lawyer Charles Bean submitted Turner, of Taupiri, had an alcohol addiction and issues arising from his childhood.
Bean said he was not only drunk at the time but the offending also happened inside a bottle store.
But Judge Mabey said that was irrelevant as being drunk was not a mitigating factor at sentencing.
Bean accepted that but said he was highlighting Turner’s upbringing and how an alcohol and drug report made for “tragic reading”.
Bean pushed for 20 per cent in discounts, but Judge Mabey said he could only go as far as 15 per cent, bringing the total to 40 per cent with the credit for guilty pleas factored in.
In jailing Turner, Judge Mabey accepted he had a “rough upbringing” marred by violence and alcohol from a young age and “started life behind the start line while others with more privilege and advantage were well ahead of you”.
That disadvantage and disparity were always recognised by the courts “because that is what justice requires”.
He said the public outcry for vengeance, which was becoming increasingly popular, “tended to overlook extreme social disadvantage which leads young men and women to commit crimes and you are one of those young men”.
“What you did was wrong... the fact you were intoxicated at the time is irrelevant.
“You do have an addiction to alcohol which you are going to need to come to terms with.”
Judge Mabey jailed him for 16 months, however, as Turner has been in custody since early April, he will be eligible for parole in December.
Court documents reveal the pair, described as “intimate partners”, took two boxes of Long White vodka drinks and a bottle of Nitro to an associate’s emergency accommodation about 6pm.
An hour later, the couple and two men left in their white Honda Civic and arrived in Ngāruawāhia about 8.40pm.
The woman can be seen getting out of the car in a “heightened emotional state”, followed shortly after by Turner.
She went into the bottle store and asked, “can you guys help me?”, retreating further into the store when Turner walked in.
She then said: “Are you going to hurt me in the store when everyone is watching?”
Turner responded by punching her to the body with such force that she ended up on the floor. He then tried to pick her up and instead grabbed her hair and dragged her through the store to the car.
The woman tried to resist, saying “get off me” and “I don’t want to get in the car”, but Turner continued dragging her across the concrete footpath.
He then opened the back passenger door while still holding her by the hair. They fought over the door before Turner opened it and hit her in the face with it.
Turner dragged her around and kneed her twice to the head before manhandling her into the back of the car, which immediately sped off.
Police saw the victim several days later with a black eye, split lip, and “injuries consistent with an assault”.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for eight years and been a journalist for 19.