WARNING: This story is about violence towards a partner and may be upsetting

A man who slammed her new partner’s head into a wall several times before biting her on the cheek and rubbing her face in icecream has had his sentence reduced on appeal, but only slightly.

Sloan Thor Heaford was sentenced in the Nelson District Court in January this year to 17 months in prison on charges of assault with intent to injure, threatening to kill and assault on a person in a family relationship, plus additional subsequent charges of driving with excess blood alcohol and driving while forbidden after he was stopped in Motueka on October 17 last year.

This month, the High Court allowed his appeal by quashing the initial sentence and substituting it with a 15-month sentence of imprisonment with leave to apply for home detention, in line with the original sentence.

The events that led to the violence charges occurred on August 13 last year, when Heaford was at home with a woman he had only recently met.

As she lay in bed eating icecream, Heaford came into the room angry and agitated over something she had said earlier and her eating habits.

Heaford then stood over her, grabbed her head and forced it backwards into the wall behind her before knocking her head back several times and headbutting her forehead.

Next, he leaned in, bit her cheek and pulled the victim off the bed, tearing her clothing.

She tried to fight back but he threw her into the wardrobe doors and banged her head on the walls and furniture.

Heaford then stood over the victim, rubbed her face into the icecream she had been eating, and began belittling her.

More than once he told her that he would kill her.

The woman, who feared for her life managed to escape by throwing herself out of the bedroom window, from where she ran, yelling for help.

Heaford chased her, grabbed her by the neck and tried to pull her back into the house while shouting at her.

Neighbours heard the calls for help and came outside at which point Heaford retreated to the house and the police were called.

Three months later while he was on bail Heaford, a forbidden driver, was stopped while driving in Motueka. A subsequent blood alcohol test showed he was four-and-a-half times over the legal limit with a reading of 257 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

The legal limit is 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

The sentencing judge described the charge of assault with intent to injure as serious because it involved multiple applications of force with an aspect of “ritual humiliation”, portrayed by Heaford’s rubbing the victim’s face in icecream while belittling and verbally abusing her.

Threatening to hit her was an aggravating factor because it was “part of the ritualistic humiliation at the end of that assault,” which continued when the victim tried to escape.

Heaford appealed his sentence saying it was manifestly excessive, the starting point (for a prison term) was too high and the reduction for personal mitigating factors was too low.

From a starting point of 25 months in prison for all of the offending Heaford was given a three-month uplift by the district court for his prior history of family violence, leading to an adjusted starting point of 28 months.

Heaford was sentenced in 2022 to three months’ imprisonment on charges of assault with intent to injure, two charges of assault on a person in a family relationship, and one charge of “other threat act”, all arising from offending in July 2020.

Justice Karen Grau found the judge had erred by setting a starting point that was slightly out of an available range and an uplift for previous convictions that was too high.

She arrived at a sentence that amounted to a 12 per cent reduction which meant Heaford would be eligible for release one month earlier than he would otherwise have been.

FAMILY VIOLENCE

How to get help: If you're in danger now: • Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours or friends to ring for you.
• Run outside and head for where there are other people. Scream for help so your neighbours can hear you.
• Take the children with you. Don't stop to get anything else.
• If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay.

Where to go for help or more information:

• Women's Refuge: Crisis line - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 (available 24/7)
• Shine: Helpline - 0508 744 633 (available 24/7)
• It's Not Ok: Family violence information line - 0800 456 450
• Shakti: Specialist services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and children.
• Crisis line - 0800 742 584 (available 24/7)
• Ministry of Justice: For information on family violence
• Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga: National Network of Family Violence Services
• White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.