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Offender Databases James Haeata

James Pakira Haeata

Alias

.

Offences

Grevious bodily harm and disfigurement of a Wellington man in June 2001

Victims

.

Offender Affiliations

Joseph Wheeler

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1976

Current Location

Unknown

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to 5 years 6 months in February 2002

Background
From the Dominion February 9th 2002
A MAN who laughed as he poured a jug of boiling water over a badly beaten man's groin was sentenced to six years' six months' jail in the High Court at Wellington yesterday. Joseph Kariatiana Wheeler, 33, sickness beneficiary, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and disfiguring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. On a charge of threatening to kill, Wheeler was sentenced to three years' jail to be served concurrently.

James Pakira Haeata, 26, unemployed, was sentenced to five years' six months' jail for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and disfiguring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Justice Wild suppressed details relating to the reason Haeata and Wheeler gave for the "sustained and cowardly" attack on a man at a Wellington flat on June 2 last year. During the attack, Haeata smashed the complainant over the head with a vase and a dining chair. Both men struck the man's head with a coffee table then Haeata hit the man with a framed university certificate and a gas heater.

After the beating, Wheeler boiled a jug of water and laughed as he poured it on the man's groin. The attack stopped when a smoke alarm went off. Before they left, taking the heater and their female companions with them, Wheeler told the complainant if they went to jail he would be "dead meat" and that next time it would be murder.Justice Wild said the complainant had been in indescribable pain, with burns to his buttocks and groin that required skin grafts. His elbow and two fingers were broken. He had cuts on his right hand and two deep lacerations on his forehead. He also had severe bruising.

Both Haeata and Wheeler had previous convictions and a propensity for violence, Justice Wild said. Haeata had consumed a big amount of drugs and liquor in the days before the attack. Wheeler had mental health problems. Their guilty pleas had spared the complainant the ordeal of a trial, Justice Wild said. However, the nature of the attack, the sense of retribution, the "unbelievable cruelty involved in you pouring hot water on the victim's groin area" and the relative lack of remorse shown led him to the view that there were few mitigating circumstances.

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Corrections and Additional Information
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