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Najib Mohamed
.
Stabbed a Hamilton man three times causing grevious bodily harm at a party in 2005
Previous convictions for assault with a blunt instrument in separate incidents in 1999 and 2000, and for possessing a knife in public in June 2003 and again the following year.
.
.
none known
Born 1985
Prison
Sentenced to eight years in 2006
Reduced on appeal to six years in May 2007
Due to be considered for parole November 2007
Statutory Release Date 2011
Background
Dominion Post story 6th May 2006
A Somali refugee who stabbed a man repeatedly at a party has had two years wiped off his eight-year jail term - because he has post-traumatic stress caused by the violence he saw as a child in his homeland.
Najib Mohamed stabbed the party host three times, with one thrust causing a thigh wound up to 15cm deep. His victim needed two blood transfusions, was in hospital for eight days, and eight months later was still struggling to walk after being attacked at a Hamilton party in 2005.
Mohamed, aged 20 at the time of the stabbing, was found guilty by a jury of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and jailed for eight years. But the Court of Appeal has now shaved two years off his sentence after accepting that the violence Mohamed suffered in Somalia - up to 13 years before the stabbing - was a factor in his repeated violent offending.
The judgment has infuriated the Sensible Sentencing Trust, which says Mohamed was using his childhood experiences to excuse his violence. “We all have skeletons in the closet, we all have excuses we could dig up if we became offenders.” If Mohamed’s childhood suffering was genuine, it should have been detected by immigration officers. “You have to seriously look at this, what was declared when he arrived in New Zealand?,” spokesman Garth McVicar said. A psychiatrist’s report presented to the court said Mohamed still suffered flashbacks, panic attacks, and palpitations as a result of his childhood.
He also experienced homicidal fantasies involving bazookas and automatic rifles. “He knows he would not do this, but it does tend to frighten him,” the psychiatrist said. Mohamed arrived in New Zealand from a refugee camp as a 10-year-old. He was 20 when he attacked his victim, 38, at the party.
Before the 2005 stabbing Mohamed had previous convictions for assault with a blunt instrument in separate incidents in 1999 and 2000, and for possessing a knife in public in June 2003 and again the following year.
The victim had invited neighbours to a party and one of them took Mohamed, who argued with a female friend of the host. Mohamed was told to leave - and promised to return with a weapon. He returned “agitated” and attacked the party host, stabbing him in the leg, back, and calf.
Mohamed's lawyer, Andrew Laurenson, told the Court of Appeal that the original eight-year sentence was excessive, but the Crown argued it was justified given Mohamed's premeditated "home invasion", the use of a knife, and the serious injury caused. Justice Baragwanath's judgment said the public interest in minimising risk of Mohamed's further offending when freed was of "pivotal importance".
