The Star: September 21, 2023

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Thursday September 21 2023 The Star
COURT 11
Teenager who attacked young girl
gets permanent name suppression
• By Emily Moorhouse
A 17-YEAR-OLD who dragged
a young girl through Barrington
Park before sexually assaulting
her in a public toilet, claiming he
had a knife and would kill her if
she screamed, will keep his name
a secret forever.
He was sentenced in the district
court to five years’ imprisonment
for abduction and sexual
violation.
Judge Mark Callaghan said
name suppression wasn’t usually
granted for this type of offending
but due to the teen’s age and
background which did not get
outlined in court, he found he
qualified for permanent name
suppression.
“I can find that there will be
extreme hardship for you if it becomes
known in prison exactly
what you did,” he said.
The teen sat emotionless in the
dock facing forwards, avoiding
the public gallery where the
victim and her family sat.
The victim’s family opposed
the teen’s name suppression, stating
they were devastated by what
had happened to their daughter.
They said she did not deserve
what had happened to her, nor
did the community, stating all
parents try to protect their children
from anything like this.
On December 3 last year, the
girl was walking to a school to
see friends when she noticed the
teen was following her.
Eventually, the girl left the
school to walk home, and again
This report was produced
by Open Justice – Te Pātītī,
a Public Interest Journalism
initiative funded by NZ on Air
noticed he was following her.
As she approached the gate at
Barrington St, the teen grabbed
her around the neck from behind
and covered her mouth, telling
her he had a knife in his pocket
and if she screamed he would
kill her. He then asked her name
and age.
The teen walked the girl back
across the park while, again,
threatening to kill her with his
knife if she were to move or
scream.
He then dragged her into a
toilet block and closed the door.
OFFENDER: A
teen jailed for
five years for
sexually violating
a young girl has
been granted
permanent name
suppression.
PHOTO: PETER
MEECHAM/POOL
The victim managed to
discreetly call 111 by pushing
buttons on her phone.
As the teen tried to remove
her clothing, he noticed her
cellphone operating and he could
hear the call-taker speaking to
her.
He took the phone and ordered
her to undress.
As he started to sexually assault
her, he asked her if it felt
good – she said no. He then
made her perform a sex act on
him.
At one point the victim tried to
pull away and he asked her “did I
tell you to stop?” before threatening
her again with his knife.
The victim then put her hand
in the teen’s pocket and found
that there was no knife present.
He put his arm around her
throat and she pleaded for him
to stop as she was unable to
breathe.
He grabbed her by the hair and
continued the assault. The teen
eventually left the toilet block
– slamming the door behind
him and causing the girl to be
trapped inside.
She suffered a number of
physical injuries including bruising
to her neck, grazes to her
knees and a sore scalp from her
hair being pulled.
In court, the teen’s lawyer
Elizabeth Bulger asked the judge
to grant her client permanent
name suppression given his age
and issues outlined in reports
relating to the teen’s upbringing
which she did not want to discuss
in open court.
Bulger said it “wasn’t in the
public interest” to name him as
people who “need to know who
he is know”.