Man admits Facebook threats
An ex-employee who sent threatening images as personal messages to a woman’s Facebook account has admitted an unusual Harmful Digital Communications Act charge.
The man was released last week from Hillmorton Hospital, after three weeks as a patient there, and he remains an outpatient. He was accompanied by a social worker at his appearance in the Christchurch District Court today.
Henare Pera Hohaia, a 27-year-old Hornby man, pleaded guilty to the charge of causing serious emotional distress to the woman by posting Facebook messages.
Judge Brian Callaghan remanded him for sentence on April 26 and referred the case for a restorative justice conference where Hohaia would get to meet the victim, if she agreed. The judge asked for a pre-sentence report that will assess his suitability for home or community detention.
He also considered whether to allow Hohaia bail during the remand for sentence, because of the nature of the threats. However, he decided to grant bail after hearing submissions from defence counsel David Goldwater, and after being told that the police did not oppose bail.
Police said Hohaia had been employed by a Christchurch business where the victim was the manager.
The manager had no contact with Hohaia for more than a year after he ceased work, but it was then found that Hohaia had posted 321 Facebook messages to the victim over several months.
They had gone unnoticed by the victim during that time. The messages included threats and one included a drawn picture of a firearm to the back of the victim’s head.
The messages suggested she was being stalked by Hohaia’s family members, and included a threat to shoot her pet horses.
“She feared for her safety and has not replied to any of the messages,” police told the court.
Mr Goldwater said Hohaia had been in Hillmorton Hospital and was trying to get back to health with medical assistance. He had been “considerably unwell” for a period.
Mr Goldwater asked for interim name suppression for Hohaia but then dropped the application after the court was told that the name had been published at an earlier appearance when there was no order in place.
Category: News
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