Sentencing — threatening to kill — threatening to cause grievous bodily harm — assault with a weapon — cruelty to a child —Sentencing Act 2002, s 9A — Burchell v R [2010] NZCA 314 — Freakley v R [2010] NZCA 497 — R v Mead [2002] 1 NZLR 594 — Boyland v NZ Police [2015] NZHC 2463 — R v Sykes HC Christchurch CRI-2008-009-2603, 19 May 2009 — Berkland v R [2022] NZSC 143 — Moses v R [2020] NZCA 296 — Ngamotu v R [2010] NZCA 121 — R v Clark [2013] NZCA 63 — Rasmussen v R [2011] NZCA 626. The defendant appeared for sentence on multiple charges of threatening to kill, threatening to cause grievous bodily harm, assault with a weapon and cruelty to a child. There were five victims, who were the defendant's sons, and the offending occurred over a nine-year period in the 1980s and 1990s. Over this period the defendant would frequently physically assault the victims, and would also psychologically abuse them. One example occurred when the defendant made the victims sit in a line, pointed a gun at them and threatened to "end it". The victims believed that they were going to die, until the defendant eventually told them that he was just "playing mind games". The Court called this act "sadistic" and said that it had caused the victims "immeasurable" harm. For this offending the Court set a start point of three years imprisonment, and added a 12-month uplift for another incident in which the defendant told four of the victims to run away or he would shoot them. For the remainder of the offending, the Court adopted an approach of imposing cumulative sentences for each group of offences against each victim. This approach would recognise the many offending acts against each of them, and would impose an appropriate punishment on the defendant for his long-running abuse against multiple victims. Once the Court completed this exercise, the total start point was eight years and six months' imprisonment. In mitigation the defendant had had a difficult upbringing and had current health problems. Following adjustments for these factors and for the totality principle, the final sentence was six years six months' imprisonment. Judgment Date: 26 September 2024