May 16, 2008

Bashing victim arrested to ensure he got treatment

A heavily-pregnant woman wept in the dock as her partner was jailed for two years three months for a Christchurch street bashing that has left the victim with long term injuries.

The woman, Kiley Lee Richardson, 25, cried and hugged Terry Patrick Keen before he was led away to begin the jail term, just a month before she is expected to give birth to her sixth child.

Christchurch District Court Judge David Saunders said it was a shame that Keen ? who has 41 previous convictions but has recently got a job and has been supporting his family ? would not be there to support his partner and she would be reliant on the State.

Richardson and another woman, Kris Irene Henery, 34, a sickness beneficiary, had admitted assault charges for their part in the incident in a street in Phillipstown. They had not taken part in the attack and had not known how much violence Keen would use. Keen pleaded guilty last month to a charge of wounding with intent to injure.

The victim has been left with friends thinking he is a stroke victim. He has lost his memory, cannot work and has become a sickness beneficiary. The attack gave him a depressed skull fracture when his head hit the footpath and broken cheek bones and eye socket when Keen punched him while he was unconscious.

Both the women received community-based sentences but Keen was jailed.

The incident happened on October 21 when there was a verbal dispute between the victim and the women, who told Keen what had happened. The victim, who was drunk, was then followed and Keen eventually confronted him.

The two traded punches until Keen felled him with a hefty blow and then assaulted him further.

The police had to arrest the victim to ensure he got medical treatment he needed. He discharged himself from hospital after a few days.

Keen?s defence counsel Tony Greig said: ?No-one is going to say he brought the injuries upon himself, but he brought the fight upon himself by his behaviour that night, by abusing the two women. He was perfectly willing to have a scrap.?

The pre-sentence report spoke of Keen?s lack of remorse and empathy with his victim.

Richardson was sentenced to 120 hours of community work with permission granted to convert some of it to training. Judge Saunders hoped a work placement in an agency would be possible.

Henery was ordered to do nine months? supervision with special conditions to undertake treatment and counselling relating to drug dependency, take budgeting advice, and do relationship counselling. She must pay $500 to the victim as emotional harm reparations, and to cover the cost of his cellphone which was taken and then destroyed.

Keen was jailed for two years three months and Judge Saunders told him: ?I will recommend to the prison authorities that they look at the issue of violence and whether or not you are able to attend a programme in the institution to address that before being released back into the community to support your partner.?