• Liam Strange’s two-year, two-month, two-week prison sentence for sexual violation reduced to nine months’ home detention.
• Strange purchased a GPS tracking device and attached it to the victim’s car without her knowledge.
• The victim expressed disappointment, citing “classic rich white privilege” and feeling unsafe.

A man who pleaded guilty to sexual violation and putting a GPS tracking device on his ex-lover’s car has appealed his prison sentence and won.

A court judgment obtained by the Herald has revealed Liam Strange’s two-year, two-month, two-week prison sentence has been reduced to nine-months home detention.

Strange served two-and-a-half months at Christchurch Men’s Prison and is now home for Christmas. He declined to comment.

Strange, 32, is forbidden to have any contact with the victim without approval from his probation officer. He is required to attend counselling and attend a non-violence programme as directed.

Strange is also required to disclose any intimate relationship he commences, resumes, or terminates.

The woman who cannot be identified for legal reasons was appalled by the new sentence and claimed it reeked of “classic rich white privilege”.

“It pisses me off he is going to be at home, he can work from there and still have a normal life, I had to leave the country to get away from him. Why would you plead guilty, say you’re sorry then fight the punishment?

“I honestly expected more from the justice system, especially with the new stalking laws. He stalked me with a tracking device. It feels like ‘white male privilege’. If it was anyone else who couldn’t afford to pay the legal fees they would’ve been behind bars for two years, two months and two weeks,” the woman said.

Liam Strange's victim said their non-exclusive relationship was volatile and unpredictable. Photo / Supplied.

The woman claimed their non-exclusive relationship lasted about three years. She said he was nice at times but his behaviour was volatile and unpredictable.

“There was an underlying attraction, but he belittled me. He was possessive and would block me from leaving the house. After emotionally and verbally abusing me he would say ‘I will never do that to you again.’ He was fine if I gave him all my attention and none to anyone else. But he became more obsessive and controlling.”

On August 29, 2022, Strange purchased a GPS vehicle tracking device and attached it to the woman’s car without her knowledge.

Three days later, when the woman was socialising with her workmates at a bar, Strange checked the location of the device. He checked again at 8pm, then 10.30pm when she dropped a male friend home.

That night the woman was on call for work and volunteered to be the sober driver. She was home by midnight.

Around 3am Strange phoned her accusing her of cheating on him.

Liam Strange broke into the victim's house and sexually violated her. Photo / Supplied

“He kept yelling, ‘You are a slut’ and threatened to come over. I told him not to and that he wasn’t welcome. He said, ‘Too late, I’m on my way.’”

Terrified, the woman woke her flatmate and explained what had happened. They checked all the doors were locked and the lights were out.

Moments later they heard Strange trying to break into the sliding door. She said he eventually broke the latch and stormed into the hallway yelling, “I know you are in there, you f***ing lying slut”.

The woman and her flatmate repeatedly asked him to leave.

“He left when I asked, ‘Did you leave your kids at home in the middle of the night to come and harass me?’

“I called the police who came and fixed the sliding door with some wood. I didn’t feel safe and thought this guy is psychotic and totally unhinged.”

A few hours later, at 8am, Strange returned again – standing over the woman who was asleep in her bed. He let himself into the house using a key he obtained from his grandmother, who owned the property.

“He was abusive and yelling at me and tried to grab my phone for proof, I rolled over to get away from him. He still didn’t believe me and put his hand down the back of my pants and into my vagina to see if I had had sex. He sniffed his fingers and said, ‘Oh you didn’t.’”

The woman started recording two of their conversations as evidence.

“I recorded them because no one would believe me.

Liam Strange's victim recorded their phone conversations to prove how manipulative and abusive he was to her. Photo / Supplied

“He would tell me to lie in my own filth and say I was a piece of shit. He always said that I was the root of all his problems.”

The pair had restorative justice which the woman said was a “farce”.

She asked Strange, “Would you do this if there was no discount?”

She said he said, ‘No,’ then corrected himself.

The woman moved to Australia two years ago. She has found love and is relieved to be an ocean away from Strange.

“I don’t think he has learnt from his mistakes. He has used the system to his advantage. My message to women is to ‘avoid him and save yourself from the pain and anxiety’. I don’t want anyone else to be hurt by him.”

SEXUAL HARM

Where to get help: If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email [email protected]
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.

Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards in 2022. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007-2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ’s 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.