The Star: May 19, 2022

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Star Thursday May 19 2022 6 NEWS Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz ‘We implored him to get away, but he • From page 5 Berry still drank and still struggled at times but by and large he was doing well. “He would have periods of abstinence and drinking over the years,” his brother David Berry said. “Martin was not an ‘all or nothing’ alcoholic – he could have a drink or two if we went out.” In 2006, Statham moved overseas and Shirley bought a flat on Blair Ave in Papanui, about 1km from her son’s place. “They could walk and meet up at the mall or go to each other’s houses,” Statham said. “We just knew how much he enjoyed the connection – both of them did. “He had my dad’s little dog, he took care of him, and they would meet up and go to the park.” Life was going well for Berry, his sister felt, until he met Rena Joyce. That meeting came over Christmas, 2017. Berry flew home to Whanganui to spend the holiday with his brother David and his partner Pearl. They went to a neighbourhood Christmas party and Joyce was a friend of the host. It wasn’t long before Joyce was moving to Christchurch and into Berry’s home. Statham said Joyce moving CONVICTED: Rena Joyce, also known as Maloney, in court before her trial. PHOTO: PETER MEECHAM/NZ HERALD in was “quite sudden” – just six months after they met, but her brother was “very excited”. Berry’s siblings were concerned but he seemed happy so they supported him in his new relationship. But that support quickly began to waiver. Like Berry, Joyce also had issues with alcohol and from almost the beginning, their union was punctuated by arguing, fighting, abuse and violence. “Initially I think it was all lovey-dovey and then I think reasonably quickly it deteriorated into violence – drunken violence,” David Berry told the court during the trial. “He would tell me that she’d attacked him and this became a regular occurrence. I went down there and stayed and she attacked me one night, for no reason. “Pretty much whenever she got drunk it would degrade into violence. She nearly bit his nose off once, she smashed a chair over him, she beat him, she smashed the telephone and hid phones so he couldn’t ring. “Sometimes he said he’d just leave and walk the streets all night. He couldn’t go home for fear of further violence.” David Berry said his older brother “didn’t know how” to ‘I feared for his life’ – David Berry leave his abusive partner. “It was really bad,” said David Berry. “I feared for his life – it was an incident away in my eyes. “We implored him to get away,” David Berry told the court. “He couldn’t leave, he didn’t know how to get away from her. She just wouldn’t leave and he didn’t know what to do.” Martin Berry would call his brother “covertly” to disclose what was going on. He had to call in secret because Joyce “was always hovering” when he was able to use the phone. “He was beaten up so bad once they called an ambulance,” said David Berry. “She would throw things at him, she would chase him with household objects. She chased him with a knife several times. “I think she would use anything that was available.” Statham spoke with her brother at least once a month but that stopped almost completely when Joyce came on the scene. Statham told the court during the trial that Joyce “was quite racist and verbally abusive” on at least one phone call. She said “it was hard to get past what she said” and that resulted in fewer phone calls to Berry to avoid engaging with his partner. Her last conversation with Berry is haunting. “He told me he wanted to leave and buy a bit of land in Whanganui to get away from Rena,” Statham told the Herald. “I wish he had let David and I help him to do this, then he would have been free from her. “He could have been happy being home again in Whanganui with a big garden to potter in.” Statham, who only met Joyce once, said her brother confided in her about the abuse a number of times. “It was quite violent,” she said of the relationship. “I knew he was scared, I knew he wanted to leave her but he didn’t know if he could. “He was scared of Rena. He was trapped. David Berry last saw his brother on December 29 2020 – just hours before Joyce murdered him. He and Pearl were in Christchurch and they invited Berry and Joyce to lunch at an Indian restaurant. “He looked really good. I had no reason to think anything untoward would happen,” said David Berry. WINTER WARM-UP DEAL! Enjoy the comfort of central heating! free CONSULTS * Standard residential installation, site inspection required to confirm sizing and installation. Includes 4x supply outlets 1x return air grill. Call us for a free quote At Better Denture we have a range of services and options available. New Dentures > Relines > Repairs > 6 Brynley St, Hornby, Christchurch Phone: 03 349 5050 www.betterdenture.co.nz Wai We care "I’m passionate about having fair representation around the table when our precious water is being discussed. My focus is particularly on ensuring young people get a fair say in what will affect future generations." Oscar Bloom – Christchurch West Melton Water Zone Committee member Nine of Canterbury’s water zone committees are looking for new community members. If you are interested in joining, visit ecan.govt.nz/waiwecare and let us know wai you care. Applications close Monday 30 May. Canterbury’s water zone committees recommend actions and tactics to councils and work with the community to protect our precious resource for future generations. Environment Canterbury
Thursday May 19 2022 The Star Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz NEWS 7 didn’t know how to leave her’ After Berry died it emerged that Joyce had a string of convictions for assaulting Berry and had spent time in prison as a result. On one occasion Berry called police and said Joyce had attacked him and “had a knife”. Another time she “told him she would kill him if he rang police again”. The courts granted Berry a protection order against Joyce, but that did not keep them apart. Soon after, police attended a callout to the house and found Berry with his t-shirt “ripped and hanging off him”, bloodied tissues nearby, broken plates and smashed glass from the oven door. That day, Berry told police he did not want to make a complaint but “wanted her out of the house”. Berry was also convicted of assaulting Joyce on one occasion. He pleaded guilty, admitting he punched her but that “it was in self-defence”. Berry was open about the conviction with his brother. “She’d attacked him and he just couldn’t do anything to get away from her,” David Berry recalled. “He was just in a corner and lost it and hit her, hit her once in the face and I think she got a couple of black eyes.” He said he had never seen his VICTIM: Police outside Berry’s Papanui home. PHOTO: ANNA LEASK/NZ HERALD brother hit another person in his life and he was known to be a gentle person. “Martin was not the sort of person who would hurt a fly,” David Berry said. “I’ve never seen Martin hurt anyone or be offensive towards anyone.” Statham said it was “impossible” to put into words the impact her brother’s “horrendous” murder has had on the family. “Martin’s horrific death is the most distressing thing that has ever happened to our small family,” she told the Herald. “Life has changed and will never go back to what it was before. “The heavy feelings of sadness are present daily and the images we have in our heads of his final seconds are ever-present. “The cruel way that Martin was murdered along with finding his belongings missing from his house was a double shock.” Statham said Joyce “denied Martin any dignity he may have had left by leaving him to rot in the garden”. “She denied us our last farewells with Martin by being able to see his body before he was cremated,” she said. “The funeral director asked if we had any items of his clothing to lay over his body bag, but she had got rid of everything, there was nothing left. “Anything she couldn’t remove from his house, she broke and threw over the fence. “All we have left to remember Martin by were the bloodstains left on the lounge floor and initially the faint smell of where his decomposing body had lain in the garden. “No family should ever be left with this,” she said. “Rena murdered the only person who ever really loved her, she will have to live with that realisation forever. “Her time in jail is a mere formality, the real jail for her is replaying in her head how she took his life so cruelly – how she destroyed any chance of happiness with someone who actually saw her, understood her and her brokenness and loved her all the more for it. “Every day she will have to wake up and remember she brutally stole a life from a kind and humble person. “Our only hope is that one day she will understand how senseless it all was.” Statham said Berry would “forever be our big brother”. “He will always be remembered and loved and he can be hurt no more now,” she said. “David and I loved Martin so much and we know that he knew it. Nothing else matters in the end.” —NZ Herald DO YOU NEED HELP? If you’re in danger now: • Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours of friends to ring for you. • Run outside and head for where there are other people. • Scream for help so that your neighbours can hear you. • Take the children with you. • Don’t stop to get anything else. • If you are being abused, remember it’s not your fault. Violence is never okay Where to go for help or more information: • Shine, free national helpline with both male and female counsellors, 9am-11pm every day – 0508 744 633 www.2shine.org.nz • Women’s Refuge: Free national crisis line operates 24/7 – 0800 refuge or 0800 733 843 www. womensrefuge.org.nz • Shakti: Providing specialist cultural services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and their children. Crisis line 24/7 0800 742 584 • It’s Not Ok: Information line 0800 456 450 www. areyouok.org.nz fLoor CoverinG BARGAINs Autex Pin Board Here’s a great idea for the kids’ room, or family notice board, Autex Vertiface Composition Pin Board, we have numerous ends of rolls 1.2m wide and huge variety of colours. Pearl Bay By Godfrey Hirst - Scoop purchase of this extra heavy duty, solution dyed nylon, cut pile carpet. Looks and feels great, one colour only at this price. Pravda a warm natural mix of browns and fawns. Great value only $89m Stay comfortable (that’s $24.32m 2 ) Only while stocks last. HEATPUMP all year round SERVICE with Fujitsu’s sleek, stylish & CLEAN Lifestyle Worth Range. $135! out they go at $39m 2 Only while stocks last retro vinyL BACk in StoCk LiMited StoCk AvAiLABLe in Store. don’t MiSS oUt! only $39m Stay comfortable all year round with Fujitsu’s sleek, stylish Lifestyle Range. Smart, multi-featured, quiet, advanced air filters, fantastic efficiencies with all the heating you’ll ever need. The Lifestyle Range by Fujitsu is our premier heat pump. • Slim & Modern Design • Energy Efficient • Human Sensor Control WIN A FREE Enter our monthly draw on our website and be in to win! HEAT PUMPS FROM $1999 inc GST INSTALLED! HEAT PUMPS FROM $ 1999 ASTG09/12KMTC 3.2 - 3.7kW of Heating INC GST INSTALLED 2020 Heat Pumps ASTG30/34KMTC 9.0 - 10.3kW of Heating PLUS MUCH MORE INSTORE 47 Gasson Street • Ph 353 8899 • Hours: 8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri www.theflooringwarehouse.co.nz FREE 03 FREE 381 6950 consultation consultation from your from local Accredited Heat Pump Expert info@powersmart.co.nz powersmart.co.nz Fujitsu’s Catechin Filters are approved by the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ’s Sensitive Choice ® programme. your local Accredited Heat Pump Expert 03 381 6950 info@powersmart.co.nz powersmart.co.nz
Page 1 and 2: THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022 connecting y
Page 3 and 4: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star •
Page 5: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star Lates
Page 9 and 10: Latest Canterbury news at starnews.
Page 11 and 12: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 11 CA
Page 13 and 14: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 13 Jo
Page 15 and 16: • By Damien Venuto A CHRISTCHURC
Page 17 and 18: Latest Canterbury news at starnews.
Page 19 and 20: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 19 Pr
Page 21 and 22: ARA INSTITUTE OF CANTERBURY Confide
Page 23 and 24: Interesting Indoors SUPER RUGBY Pac
Page 25 and 26: 2013 Volkswagen Tiguan TSi h tp: /k
Page 27 and 28: Personals SINGLE INDEP CHARMING GEN
Page 29 and 30: $15,999 h tp: /kaywa.me/8aVdQ downl
Page 31 and 32: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 31 ch
Page 33 and 34: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 33 Tu
Page 35 and 36: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 35 Ha

The Star: May 19, 2022

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?