December 17, 2008

Worries about child led to assault

An Ashburton man?s actions when he was worried that his infant daughter was growing up in houses where there was heavy drug use, has brought him a 14-month jail term.

Christopher Allan Esmy Quinton was told in the Christchurch District Court that confrontation and violence were not the way to deal with such problems. ?Apart from anything else, that is what the Child, Youth, and Family Service, is for,? Judge Raoul Neave told him.

Quinton, 35 and unemployed, had gone to two suburban Ashburton homes where his ex-partner lived in May and June.

He broke off the first confrontation with a male flatmate, but returned from the kitchen holding a kitchen knife with a 15cm blade and brandished it at the other man. He then put the knife down and left without using it.

While on bail a month later, he went to the ex-partner?s home and slapped her three times before she shut herself in the toilet for protection. He forced his way in and punched her in the face causing a bruise which may also have involved a fractured cheek.

Defence counsel Jared Bell said Quinton?s offending arose from his concern that there was heavy drug use going on in the house where his infant child was living with her mother.

He pointed to positive trends in Quinton?s life with the birth of his daughter, a reconciliation after many years with his father, and a stable relationship with another woman.

Crown prosecutor Anna MacGougan said it was an aggravating factor that Quinton was on bail at the time of the second offence.

He had pleaded guilty before trial in Timaru to charges of possession of a weapon, and assault on a woman. The sentencing was then transferred to Christchurch.

Judge Neave said that while the birth of his daughter had given Quinton?s life a significant new focus, ?it still has not quite led you to deal with issues in an appropriate way?.

?Nobody is denying you had a genuine concern that the care of your daughter was being compromised by drug use in the environment in which she was living. Whether that was the truth, I don?t know, but I accept from your perspective it was a genuinely held view.?

He noted that Quinton had a significant record of criminal offending stretching back over 18 years. It included 18 offences involving violence or aggression, a significant number of them involving women, and four involving weapons.

The pre-sentence report was generally favourable, but there was a question over Quinton?s motivation to change. ?You still have to completely master dealing with problems without resorting to violence.?

He imposed a 14-month jail term with 12 months of post-release conditions to follow. With the six months Quinton has been in custody on remand, he can expect to be released in January.