Axe swung in family dispute
A teenager swung an axe during a family argument straight after arriving home from his Stopping Violence course.
Police said the axe blow by 18-year-old Gregory Dareen Hill was a near miss for his stepfather in the January 16 incident.
Hill had pleaded guilty to a charge of assault with a weapon and appeared before Judge Paul Kellar for sentence in the Christchurch District Court today.
Judge Kellar released him under supervision for six months with special conditions, including the completion of the Enabling Youth Stopping Violence programme, and having no contact with his stepfather without his probation officer’s consent.
Hill will also have to spend a month on community detention at the Redwood address where he is now living. Family members were in court to support him.
Defence counsel Serina Bailey told the court the offending arose from a background of family difficulties at the home where Hill had been living.
He was fortunate that he had the continuing support of his grandparents, and he was now working.
Judge Kellar said Hill had arrived home late in the afternoon from a Stopping Violence course. His mother and stepfather were moving boxes containing his belongings from the garage into his room.
When the stepfather put a box down on the ground, Hill accused him of dropping it and breaking the items inside.
An argument began. As the stepfather turned to walk away, Hill picked up a long-handled axe and swung it at him. His sister called out and the stepfather turned. Police say the axe narrowly missed the man.
“The pre-sentence report informs me that you have been quick to anger, as are many young men, it seems,” said the judge. “You grew up in an environment in which it seems you may have suffered from being put down and having few limits placed on your behaviour.”
He said he was imposing a rehabilitative sentence that would “bring it home to you that it is simply not appropriate to behave in this way”.
Category: Focus
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