Supervision for Facebook threats
A Hornby man said he was trying to be “cheeky” rather than malicious when he sent 321 abusive and sometimes threatening Facebook messages to a former employer.
Henare Pera Hohaia’s messages to the woman went unnoticed for several months, but since they were found he has admitted a charge of causing serious emotional distress under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.
He pleaded guilty to the online bullying charge in the Christchurch District Court in February and was sentenced by Judge Brian Callaghan today.
Defence counsel David Goldwater said the 38-year-old beneficiary’s offending arose from “some instability in his thought process”. He had spent three weeks at Hillmorton Hospital and was now being treated as an out-patient.
Judge Callaghan noted Hohaia had only one conviction for violence on his record – a charge of assaulting a woman in 2012, for which he was fined.
He said Hohaia started sending the messages a year after ceasing work with the firm. The messages included handdrawn pictures showing a firearm being held to the back of the woman’s head, an indication that she was being stalked by Hohaia’s family members, and an apparent threat to shoot her pet horses.
The offending happened at a time when Hohaia was hearing voices and there was tension at his home.
“You say you were trying to be cheeky rather than malicious and were unaware of the harmful effect of the messages,” said the judge.
Hohaia was seen as a low risk of reoffending, and the judge said he believed the case was less serious than cases where people thought they had a reason to send this type of messages after a friendship or relationship break-up.
He imposed supervision for a year with a special condition that Hohaia attend medical appointments as directed.
Category: Focus
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