Mother-of-two sobs as she realises she’s being jailed for violent attack involving a weapon

Andrea Leota has been sentenced to 17 months' imprisonment after bashing her victim in front of said victim's children while wearing knuckle-dusters.

A mother-of-two who bashed a woman while wearing knuckle-dusters called out in despair for her lawyer as she realised she was being sent to jail.

Andrea Leota appeared before Judge Justin Marinovich in the Whanganui District Court on Wednesday for sentencing on three charges including assault with a weapon, receiving a stolen Toyota Hilux and driving while suspended.

The court heard about 7pm on April 8, 2022, Leota and an associate went to an address to confront a woman she had known for about 18 years about an earlier altercation.

After pushing past the person who opened the front door, they found the victim in the kitchen baking with her children.

Leota, wearing the knuckle dusters, punched the 39-year-old woman in the face while her associate hit the victim in the back with a bat.

A second victim grabbed Leota’s associate, as she continued the assault, and tried to restrain him, but the associate hit him in the face before the pair left the address.

About 10.25pm on November 22, 2022, Leota was caught driving a stolen Toyota Hilux ute, valued at between $15,000 and $23,000, after she pulled into a service station on Dublin St and police noticed it had two different plates.

Leota, who had previously had her driver’s licence suspended for excess demerit points, attempted to flee the scene, but when officers yelled out her name, she stopped.

The ute was impounded.

Defence lawyer Jamie Waugh said Leota was a solo mother of two boys - one lived with her and the other with his grandmother - and sought a community-based sentence of intensive supervision.

Waugh argued the approach would allow a longer period of rehabilitative intervention for Leota, who wanted to remain in her sons’ lives and had no previous history of violence.

He submitted having their mother remain in their lives would help prevent them from future offending.

Marinovich, however, was having none of it, noting Leota had previously received multiple sentences of supervision.

“One way or another, they have been without their mum for a period of time,” he said.

“She’s not been there for them because of her drug use and offending.”

Marinovich said methamphetamine use had been an issue for Leota throughout the years.

“Methamphetamine is something that has played havoc in your life.”

Leota’s female victim suffered bumps and bruises over her head, a swollen face and was still enduring back problems, as well as the ongoing effects of emotional harm.

Marinovich described the assault with a weapon charge as concerning because it happened in the victim’s home, in front of her children, and he said Leota was lucky not to be facing further charges as it involved an element of home invasion.

Leota had worn the knuckle-dusters for the purpose of “inflicting maximum violence”, which was directed at the head of her victim, he said.

After adopting a start point of two years’ imprisonment, Marinovich gave Leota credit for her early guilty pleas and offer to attend restorative justice, bringing the term down to 17 months in jail.

As he detailed it would not be commuted to a community-based sentence, Leota, who had been weeping during the hearing, called out to her lawyer.

“There’s no other options available in terms of this offending, the assault with a weapon was particularly nasty,” Marinovich said.

Waugh immediately asked for the sentence to be deferred for three days so Leota could get her affairs in order, but Marinovich declined.

He then filed an appeal against the sentence in the High Court and made a bail application pending the hearing.

Judge Marinovich noted Leota had been compliant while previously on bail and said granting it was in the interests of justice.