He was ultimately taken away in a custody van.
On Could 10, Brophy was sentenced within the North Shore District Court docket to 9 months in jail after pleading responsible to trespass, legal harm, aggravated assault, theft and breach of supervision.
He was turned down for residence detention after a probation officer’s “unusually destructive” pre-sentence report, in accordance with court docket paperwork.
The report advisable a brief jail sentence on account of his unwillingness and lack of motivation to interact in rehabilitation and his “restricted perception and duty for his offending”.
Choose Andrea Manuel stated there have been “difficulties” with residence detention, which Brophy needed to serve at his mom’s residence within the South Island – the place she had moved to from Auckland to get away from him.
She stated Brophy had been concerned in a number of cases of household violence, together with in opposition to his mom, extending to convictions for legal harm as just lately as February 2021.
She assessed neither of Brophy’s dad and mom’ properties was appropriate for residence detention.
Brophy appealed the jail time period to the Excessive Court docket, arguing that he must be allowed to serve residence detention as a substitute.
Within the Excessive Court docket, his counsel acknowledged Brophy’s violent historical past towards his mom, which had led to her transfer “to maintain herself protected and to place distance between them”.
Nonetheless, Brophy’s mom had stated “time is a good healer”, and had renovated her storage to supply lodging for him, as her approach of reaching out in a motherly approach, and to open the household unit up once more.
Brophy had stayed together with her with out incident for transient intervals whereas on electronically monitored bail.
In place of continued imprisonment, Brophy additionally had employment prospects in Christchurch, his counsel advised the court docket.
Nonetheless, Excessive Court docket Justice Pheroze Jagose stated that Choose Manuel’s choice to say no residence detention didn’t lead to a sentence that was “manifestly extreme”, which might have allowed a profitable enchantment.
“Somewhat, it was an evaluation plainly open to the Choose on the data earlier than her of Mr Brophy’s household violence and non-compliance historical past,” Justice Jagose stated.
He additionally stated that electronically monitored confinement was a supply of “compliance stress” which elevated the chance of household violence on the handle the place residence detention is being served.
“[The mother’s} address is not a suitable address for Mr Brophy’s electronically monitored confinement,” Justice Jagose said.
“The Judge was right to sentence him to a short term of imprisonment absent a suitable residence for a home detention.”
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.
