A jury in the Invercargill District Court yesterday took four hours to find 48-year-old Glen Nathan Chapman guilty of two charges of breaching a protection order through psychological abuse.
When the victim attempted to end her short affair with Chapman last year he assaulted her, leading to two convictions and a protection order against him.
Twice in January the complainant reported the defendant making aggressive gestures and shouting abuse out his car window when they crossed paths in Gore.
The first breach happened while the victim was driving to work with her uncle and 11-year-old son.
Chapman passed them in his car and stuck up two fingers, swearing.
The second, the woman was at the Gore BP station refuelling her car when her antagonist drove past, raising his middle finger and then making a throat-slitting gesture with his thumb.
That same month, the victim’s father also went on trial for damage to Chapman’s house but was found not guilty.
The court heard suggestions on Wednesday from the defence that the complainant, angry that the defendant had taken her father to court, lied about the abuse to get revenge.
The defence also brought up the woman’s previous conviction for giving a false statement to the police.
“You’re going to bring that up again? I was 18. I’m 33 now,” the victim said.
The court also heard evidence from the victim’s uncle who was in the car during the first breach.
The uncle said he heard abuse coming from outside the car but did not see who it was as he “was daydreaming into something else”.
Crown prosecutor Mary-Jane Thomas said the jury should believe the uncle because a liar would have said he had seen the defendant.
Ms Thomas also laid out during her final arguments that the crimes were the reason such orders existed.
“That is what a protection order is meant to stop occurring, not the straight-up violence all the time, it’s the fear of the violence … that puts people on edge,” she said.
Judge Russell Walker sentenced Chapman to 80 hours’ community work and a 12-month deferred sentence.
After sentencing, the defendant appeared angry and said the harassment went both ways.
“This feud, if there is one, has to end,” Judge Walker said.
ella.scott-fleming@alliedpress.co.nz