R v Keretene [2016] NZDC 10554 (3 June 2016)

Last Updated: 15 February 2017

EDITORIAL NOTE: NAMES AND/OR DETAILS IN THIS JUDGMENT HAVE BEEN ANONYMISED.

PUBLICATION OF NAME, ADDRESSES, OCCUPATION OR IDENTIFYING PARTICULARS, OF COMPLAINANT PROHIBITED BY SECTION 203 OF THE CRMINAL PROCEDURE ACT

IN THE DISTRICT COURT AT AUCKLAND

CRI-2015-004-001302 [2016] NZDC 10554

THE QUEEN

v

_{DAMION KERETENE}

Hearing:	3 June 2016
Appearances:	N Webby for the Crown P Dean for the Defendant
Judgment:	3 June 2016

_{NOTES OF JUDGE E M THOMAS ON SENTENCING}

A. Sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

2. Publication of name, addresses, occupation or identifying particulars, of complainant prohibited by s 203 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
   

R v DAMION KERETENE [2016] NZDC 10554 [3 June 2016]

_REASONS

_{The offending}

[1] Mr Keretene, on Waitangi Day you went to what should have been a happy family celebration. There was plenty of laughter, plenty of alcohol. You indulged in plenty of both.

[2] Your 18 year old [relationship details deleted], who I shall refer to here as Sandy, was also at that party. She too enjoyed plenty of laughter and alcohol. She had had so much alcohol that she then went to bed. She did so in one of the bedrooms in the house. She quickly fell asleep and passed out on the bed.

[3] The party continued outside. You went past her bedroom. You first noticed her when her mother checked up on her. You were in the hallway when her mother did that. Her mother shut the door and left to join the other adults who were enjoying the party outside in the carport.

[4] You did not go out there. You instead went into the bedroom. You raped her as she slept on the bed. She woke up and was understandably quite distressed at what was happening. Her reaction was to freeze, not knowing what else to do. You finished what you needed to do. You apologised and you left.

Remorse

[5] When you did stop, you apologised not just to her but also to her parents, to others there at the party. Understandably, everyone was extremely distressed. You claim now to express remorse and you write that in a letter and you say that to people, but I struggle to accept that as genuine.

[6] You could think of nothing but your own self-interest in defending the charge and taking it to trial and making her and the family re-live it all over again. You did not have the courage to face up to what you had done. An expression of remorse after a trial, after you having blatantly denied it to her and to her family, is not worth very much. It is certainly not worth any reduction in sentence.

[7] I am pleased that you are remorseful. You need to be. I am pleased that you recognise that you have a drinking problem. You need to recognise that. I am disappointed to see that you still seem to blame a lot of this on alcohol. You need to stop doing that and blame a lot more of it on yourself.

Starting point

[8] The Court of Appeal has looked at the appropriate penalties for rape in a case called R v AM [2010] NZCA 114; [2010] 2 NZLR 750. Your offending fits in the second category for rape in that case, perhaps arguably on the cusp of that category and category 1. It falls there because of your [relationship details deleted]’s vulnerability, not just because she was 18 but of course because she was effectively passed out on the bed.

[9] It falls there because of the breach of trust. You were somebody she trusted. You were an elder in her family. She respected you and loved you and expected you to love her and protect her in return, as did all of the members of her family.

[10] It falls there also because of the effects upon her, which will be very significant. The effects that she already suffers from are clear in the victim impact statement, that these are effects that are going to follow her for the rest of her life. She is going to struggle to trust people, anybody. She is going to struggle in forming relationships that last. She is going to struggle to give herself to anybody. She is going to wonder always why her life is a little sadder. A little quieter. A little darker than everybody else’s. She will get frustrated that those around her cannot see that that is the world that she now lives in. For her, that will be a very, very lonely place to be, and you did that.

[11] I take a starting point of seven and a half years' imprisonment. You have previous convictions but none of them are relevant to this offending. I do not uplift your sentence to recognise those.

Discount

[12] You have, to your credit, acknowledged your offending. Acknowledged your drinking. Acknowledged some of the causes of this. And you have taken steps and

undertaken courses to do something about that. For that, I am prepared to give you some credit and I will discount the sentence by six months to reflect that.

Result

[13] I sentence you to seven years' imprisonment.

E M Thomas

District Court Judge