Clayton Tamakehu
Published on stuff.co.nz on 4 May 2022
GRAPHIC WARNING: A man has been sentenced to 24 months in prison after violently killing a cat at a Dunedin backpackers.
Clayton Tamakehu, 35, appeared in the Dunedin District Court for sentencing before Judge Emma Smith on Wednesday.
His charges included assault with intent to injure and cruelty to animals, after an incident on December 4 in a shared room at backpackers, Geeky Gecko.
The police summary of facts said other occupants of the backpackers were lying on their beds, while the cat, named Heidi, wandered around the room.
Tamakehu picked up the cat, which belonged to one of the residents, and slammed its body with considerable force into a middle bunk.
He then threw the cat across the room at a set of metal lockers.
The cat died of its injuries.
A woman heard the commotion and confronted Tamakehu, who then punched her multiple times in the head and upper body.
As she dropped to the ground he continued to punch her, before fleeing the scene.
Police located him some time later.
Tamakehu claimed he did not harm the cat, and that the victim must have fallen out of bed.
The 35-year-old woman read her victim impact statement in court and said she suffered a severe concussion, bruising and facial swelling as a result of the assault.
“I can’t work due to the psychological impact it has had on me,” she told the court.
She felt she could no longer function normally, due to the incident.
Judge Smith told Tamakehu the impact on his victim “resulted in significant harm”.
She noted his criminal history, and that his life changed in 2014 after suffering a serious brain injury, which had impacted on his life.
“It is a particularly serious matter,” Smith said of his recent offending.
While the death of Heidi wasn’t premeditated, the “extreme violence” of the offending had to be taken into account.
“You lost control.”
The judge acknowledged his guilty plea, and his traumatic brain injury, which left him struggling to control his emotions, and sentenced him to 24 months’ jail.