July 22, 2011

Ministry investigation after man lunges at judge

By David Clarkson

A man is in mental health custody after being charged with assaulting a District Court judge in Christchurch and the Ministry of Justice has launched an investigation into how the attack happened.

Judge Jackie Moran was not injured in the assault which took place on Wednesday during a hearing under the Mental Health Act.

It is understood the man lunged at her at the conclusion of the hearing and did manage to strike her before he was restrained.

Security staff were present at the hearing, but they were not the Ministry?s own security officers.

Apart from mental health hearings, Judge Moran does criminal court work and sits in the Family Court.

The 26-year-old man, Muhammad Tanvir, who lives in the Christchurch suburb of Middleton, appeared in the Christchurch District Court sitting at Rangiora Court House yesterday.

Judge Jane Farish remanded him in mental health care at Hillmorton Hospital to make a further appearance at Rangiora on August 3.

He faces a charge laid under the Crimes Act that being a male he assaulted a woman, Judge Moran, and another charge of assaulting a man on the same day.

Judge Moran is the wife of Judge Phillip Moran who also sits in Christchurch.

Altercations and escapes do sometimes happen around the courts but attacks on judges in New Zealand are rare.

Prisoners attending the courts are escorted by either police or prison officers, and Corrections officers sit with everyone throughout jury trials in Christchurch.

The courts have had their own security staff for several years. They look after security around the buildings, and in Christchurch conduct ?airline-style? scans on people entering the building.

The Ministry of Justice investigated courtroom security around the country in July 2006 after an incident in Nelson when a man jumped from the dock and assaulted District Court Judge Geoffrey Ellis.

Butcher Jacob Donald Matheson, 24, told police that he had intended to stab the judge with a metal pencil but had been unable to remove it from his pocket. He threw at least two punches which struck the judge, and assaulted the prosecuting police sergeant who intervened.

He admitted assaulting Judge Ellis with intent to injure, assaulting a constable, resisting two constables, and an unrelated charge of doing an indecent act and was jailed for a year.

The most serious attack on a New Zealand judge in recent times happened in 1990 when Dame Augusta Wallace was attacked by a 16-year-old youth who lunged at her with a machete and slashed her face open in the Otahuhu Youth Court in south Auckland.

Since the February earthquake, the Ministry of Justice has been struggling to reinstate full court services in Christchurch and has largely succeeded, although no jury trials have been able to be held in the city. They have been held in the Timaru court.

The disruption has meant that instead of being held in one Court House in the central city and two adjoining buildings, the court sittings have been spread across about 10 venues. The venues include a marae, the men?s prison, the Rangiora Court House, the Maori Land Court building, the RNZAF Museum at Wigram, and rooms at venues such as a racecourse and tennis club.