Offender DatabasesViolent and Sexual Offender Databases |
Victims MemorialA memorial to those murdered in NZ in the last twenty years
Arabic language summary | 
Chinese language summary | 
Korean language summary 0900 SAFE NZ (7233 69)
EDUCATE . ADVOCATE . SUPPORT
| SITEMAP(3)Where to find everything here | FAQFrequently Asked Questions | New!New on this site lately |
escalating violence in our community
Become a member of the
Sensible Sentencing Trust
Offender Databases
Harry Kenny
.
Injuring with intent to injure (x3), assault with intent to injure, assaulting a female, wounding with intent to do grevious bodily harm, attempting to pervert the cause of justice, rape and kidnapping, all relating to his former partner in Ngaruawahia in May 2007
A history of violent offending dating back to 1995
Pauline Sharryn Witeri
.
none known
Born 1973
Prison
Sentenced to preventive detention with a ten year non parole period in October 2008
Eligible for possible release from prison June 2017
Background
Waikato Times, Thursday, 9 October 2008
A Hamilton man who inflicted a series of harrowing beatings on his former partner - including an assault with a hammer - has been sentenced to preventive detention. Harry Kenny, 35, stood unblinking in the High Court in Hamilton yesterday as Justice Harrison also imposed a 10-year non-parole period.
Kenny had earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of injuring with intent to injure, assault with intent to injure, assaulting a female, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, attempting to pervert the cause of justice, rape and kidnapping.
The charges relate to Kenny's former partner Pauline Witeri, 50, who was found dead at a friend's house in Ngaruawahia on May 31 last year. A post-mortem examination concluded she died of bleeding and swelling to her brain.
Justice Harrison said he had no doubt based on psychiatric and physiological reports that Kenny continued to pose a real risk to women. Preventive detention was the only practical means of protecting the community, he said. In submissions, Crown prosecutor Rebecca Mann said the "particular cruelty" of Kenny's offending, combined with the vulnerability of his older victim, warranted a sentence of preventive detention. Ms Mann said the injuries Kenny inflicted on Ms Witeri had been capable of causing her death. During one assault, Kenny repeatedly struck his victim with a hammer.
The court was told that between March and May, 2007, Kenny and Ms Witeri were involved in a turbulent three-month relationship during which Kenny inflicted a series of increasingly violent assaults on Ms Witeri. On one occasion, Kenny gave his victim "a hiding" because she didn't eat her fish and chips. In early March 2007, Ms Witeri tried to flee from Kenny while the pair were touring the Thames-Coromandel region.
While Kenny was using a public toilet, Ms Witeri drove off in their car but soon afterwards was involved in a two-car crash. A paramedic who attended the crash reported that Ms Witeri had cuts and bruises which weren't consistent with the accident. Members of Ms Witeri's family cried as accounts of her injuries were read in court. Defence counsel Kit Clews said that while Kenny was a difficult man to understand, he had written a letter of apology to Ms Witeri's family.
"He is alone, he has nobody. Quite clearly a reject of society," Mr Clews said. Referring to a pathologist's report, Justice Harrison said Ms Witeri had multiple injuries at the time of her death, including a fractured bone in her throat. Justice Harrison told Kenny that the only reason he had not been charged with murder was because of the pathologist's "inability to say on oath that (Ms Witeri's) injuries had resulted from your violence".
"The level of violence you inflicted on Ms Witeri in those few days before her death was capable of causing death," he said. "Ms Witeri did nothing to deserve the misery and degradation you inflicted on to her in the last few months of her life."
The court heard that Kenny had a history of violent offending dating back to 1995. Outside court, family members, including Ms Witeri's son Edward Drawbridge, spoke of her gentle nature and bubbly personality. Brother-in-law David Allen said the sentencing gave the family closure.
From Waikato Times story July 30th 2008
The trial of a Hamilton man accused of kidnapping and assaulting a woman later found dead in Ngaruawahia ended abruptly yesterday when he changed his pleas to guilty.
Harry Kenny, 35, pleaded guilty in the High Court in Hamilton to three counts of injuring with intent to injure, assault with intent to injure, assaulting a female, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, attempting to pervert the cause of justice, rape and kidnapping. The charges relate to Kenny's former partner, Pauline Sharryn Witeri, 50, who was found dead at a friend's house in Ngaruawahia on May 31 last year. A post-mortem examination concluded Ms Witeri died of bleeding and swelling to her brain.
At the start of the trial on Monday Crown prosecutor Rebecca Mann told the court Ms Witeri's death was not related to the charges Kenny faced. Kenny had originally faced 14 charges. Justice Harrison discharged him on the remaining five counts, and said earlier guilty pleas would have spared Ms Witeri's family "a great deal of anguish". Justice Harrison remanded Kenny in custody until his sentencing in the High Court in Hamilton on September 19.
