Pledge to remove guns fails to impress judge

February 8, 2012

A pledge to remove guns from a prospective bail address for an Ashburton man, as well as locking up the alcohol, was not enough to get him out of prison yesterday.

Allan James Hislop, 28, has been in jail since December 27, and in the Ashburton District Court he indicated a not guilty plea for 24 charges he faces, mostly relating to domestic violence towards his long-term partner.
His lawyer Chris Persson pleaded Hislop's case for electronically-monitored (EM) bail, where he would reside at the Rakaia address of his mother and her partner.
Mr Persson said the mother and her partner would remove all guns from the property, and in their place in a locked arms cabinet, they would put all the residence's alcohol.
Mr Persson pleaded Hislop's case for EM bail for more than half an hour, prompting a terse response from Judge Jane McMeeken as Mr Persson said his client was most likely overcharged and many of the charges may well be dropped or lessened as more disclosure was obtained.
"I have really got that point, this wasn't set down for a two-hour hearing," Her Honour said.
Police opposed bail, as did the writer of a EM bail report before the judge.
Sergeant Mylen Hamilton said Hislop had written to the victim while in prison, and just because the alcohol was to be locked up at the bail address, did not mean it would be inaccessible.
"They have just said they will lock it up, if he's going to be there it doesn't take long to work out how to unlock it or get into something," Mr Hamilton said.
The victim lived in Mid Canterbury and was "terrified" of him, and Rakaia police were not rostered on 24/7 in the event of an EM breach.
Judge McMeeken noted Hislop presented an "extreme risk" according to police for domestic violence offending.
It was alleged during the relationship that he controlled his partner and allegedly assaulted her many times.
Allegations included strangulation, hair pulling, whipping with a cord, breaking her hand and threatening to kill.
She agreed with the comments of Judge Robert Murfitt who had refused a regular bail application last month.
The court was concerned about his abuse of alcohol, and previous charges included breach of a protection order last year relating to another partner, and convictions for male assaults female and drink driving.
He had previously breached a bail condition for not drinking alcohol, and on a previous EM sentence had removed his electronic bracelet.
She remanded him in custody, and a status hearing would be held on February 21.

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