Dunedin man who slapped wife repeatedly discharged without conviction over deportation fears
The man was in New Zealand on a visitor visa at the time of the incident.
Gurjit Singh initially faced more serious allegations, including assault with intent to injure and threatening to kill.
A Dunedin man who repeatedly slapped his wife has been discharged without conviction over fears his impending deportation would end the couple's marriage.
The Court of Appeal has found the consequences of conviction, including the risk of deportation, were out of proportion to the gravity of his offending.
Gurjit Singh had already completed the punishment imposed by the district court – 150 hours of community work and 12 months’ supervision – by the time he won his appeal.
In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal set aside his convictions and sentence and discharged him without conviction. Singh had pleaded guilty to two charges of male assaults female and one of intimidation over an incident involving his wife in February 2024.
On the drive home from a Dunedin supermarket, Singh stopped the car and slapped his wife in the face while demanding that she “tell me the truth”.
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When they reached home, he slapped her again. Inside the house, his wife saw Singh pick up a kitchen knife and hold it behind his back. She ran outside calling for help and Singh followed her. She suffered tenderness and mild swelling to her face.
Singh initially faced more serious allegations, including assault with intent to injure and threatening to kill, but those charges were later amended.
At restorative justice, both Singh and his wife said the knife had not been used to intimidate her. His wife said she was still shocked when police interviewed her and, without an interpreter, felt she “had not been clear”.
The couple had met through an arranged marriage about eight years earlier and moved to New Zealand around 2023. By the time they attended restorative justice, bail conditions had kept them from seeing or speaking to each other for 18 months.
Both were in tears as they recalled the incident. “Bail conditions had meant they had not seen or spoken to one another for 18 months and both had found it very hard,” the report said.
Singh apologised and said he was “very remorseful”. His wife believed the apology was “coming from the heart”, supported his bid for a discharge without conviction and wanted to resume living with him once the bail conditions were lifted.
The Dunedin district court nevertheless refused to discharge him without conviction, assessed the offending as moderately serious and sentenced him to 150 hours of community work and 12 months’ supervision.
Had he been discharged at that stage, he would ordinarily have avoided both the convictions and the sentence. Instead, he completed the punishment before succeeding on appeal.
The Court of Appeal took a different view of the offending. It noted the knife had been held only briefly, no verbal threat accompanied it and there was no allegation Singh was still carrying it when he followed his wife outside.
“Of itself, the intimidation offence engaged low-level culpability,” the court said. The judges also rejected the view that Singh had failed to accept responsibility at restorative justice.
The court ultimately assessed the offending as falling within the low-to-moderate range. The immigration consequences then became decisive.
After Singh was sentenced, Immigration New Zealand issued a deportation liability notice that specifically referred to his convictions. The Court of Appeal found this showed he faced a “real and appreciable risk” of deportation.
His wife wanted the marriage to continue and had no ongoing concerns for her safety. She had built a life in New Zealand and was training, or had completed training, to become a nurse.
The court said deportation could effectively leave her choosing between her marriage and the life and career she had established in New Zealand.
Against offending it assessed as low to moderate in gravity, the judges found those consequences were out of all proportion. Singh’s convictions and sentence were set aside and he was discharged without conviction.
