A man has been sentenced to 18 months supervision after punching his ex-partner in the face, threatening her, and then leaving an intimidating voice message weeks later.
Masterton drilling contractor David Bowring, 48, admitted to an assault and a threatening acts charge when he appeared in Masterton District Court last Wednesday.
Reading from the summary of facts, Judge Andrew Nicholls said the offending happened on Friday, March 3, 2023, after Bowring and his ex-partner had broken up.
He punched her in the face in their Masterton home.
She fled into a room, but Bowring burst in on her and stood threateningly in the doorway.
Two weeks later, he left her a Facebook Messenger voice message at 4am on Saturday, March 18, threatening to injure her and her teenage son.
Judge Nicholls said the victim had suffered mentally and physically from the assault but acknowledged that Bowring had accepted that his behaviour was unacceptable.
“You’ve engaged in a non-violence programme, and underlying that is a problem with alcohol you need to address,” Judge Nicholls said.
Defence lawyer Fionnuala Kelly said her client had already served a significant amount of punitive time, given that he
spent three and a half months “pretty much on 24-hour curfew”, except when working on drilling rigs.
“Throughout that period, he hasn’t breached bail, he’s made inroads into getting treatment, and he’s been completely abstinent,” Kelly said.
Kelly said her client could not work on drilling rigs if he had to wear an electronically monitored bracelet due to health and safety requirements.
Judge Nicholls said the assault was a serious offence and carried a starting point of 18 months in prison.
After applying discounts for a guilty plea, remorse, and factors in his background, Judge Nicholls sentenced Bowring to 18 months of supervision, with a condition to not do his contracting work during the first three months.
“This is a short sharp sentence which is going to require you to forgo three months of contracting work – this is punitive in intent,” he said.
