September 13, 2012

Head injuries from assault detailed in court

By David Clarkson

After being punched to the ground without warning and then kicked unconscious, a man was left lying in a lonely area near Lyttelton?s Naval Point Yacht Club, late at night.

He was saved from his painful plight by the final match of the Rugby World Cup last October, because some engineers had stayed late nearby to party and watch the match.

They found him and helped him and he was taken to hospital with concussion, a broken nose, and needing plastic surgery for cuts to his head. Four teeth were damaged and have had to be removed and he now has an upper denture.

The man?s injuries in the unprovoked assault were detailed at the sentencing of 27-year-old Graeme Frederick Pope who was described in Christchurch District Court as an angry man.

Pope had an unpromising start in life, moving around foster homes, and defence counsel Claire Yardley said he had spent part of every year since 2003 in prison. ?He?s developed a hard shell because of his previous experiences.?

He now realised that the pattern would continue through his 30s unless he made some changes.

On the night of the assault, he had been at home exchanging increasingly frustrated texts with his girlfriend who was at a bar in Christchurch.

He was then picked up from home by her and a woman friend, and a man she had met, and the group bought more alcohol and then went driving and ended up at Lyttelton where the assault on the man took place. The group left the man alone, dazed and confused and drove off in the victim?s car and later abandoned it.

Yardley said Pope had been in prison since his arrest last year and his child had been born while he was in custody.

She agreed that he needed a psychologist?s help to handle the serious issues he had that gave rise to his anger. He was not seen as a model prisoner but had used his time on remand to do courses in Kapa Haka, Bible studies, literacy, and numeracy.

Crown prosecutor Kathy Basire said the victim had been significantly affected and bore emotional scars as well as physical injuries.

Judge Kellar said Pope was seen as a high risk of further offending. He added to the sentence for his record of seven previous assaults, but reduced if for his guilty pleas to the charges of injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and unlawfully taking the victim?s car.

He jailed Pope for three years.