Vol 53 No 20 | Thursday, July 25, 2024 | www.times.co.nz
CULTURAL FESTIVAL CANNED
D AND DOWNLOA UT PRINT O ION CAT THIS PUBLI
> SEE STORY PAGE 7
Assault victim left blind By CHRIS HARROWELL
A
n east Auckland man who permanently blinded his flatmate and landlord during a violent attack has failed in a recent attempt to have his prison sentence reduced. A document released by the Auckland High Court last year details the offending committed by Te Awanui Timutimu.
The sentencing notes of Justice Karen Grau state Timutimu was living with Martin Murray, who was both his landlord and flatmate, at a property in Botany Downs at the time of the incident. The pair weren’t close friends but got on well enough and would occasionally watch television together. A victim impact statement from Murray’s son Joseph said he
thought of Timutimu as a kind person. “But all of that changed when you went into the lounge and asked Mr Murray why he was tracking you,” Justice Grau said. “He did not know what on earth you were talking about. You tried to get him to fight you. “You are a much bigger man than he is. You insulted him for not fighting you.
“You started slapping him. You knocked him around. You grabbed him by the throat and you threw him onto the sofa so that he was lying face down. “You got on top of him and squeezed his throat. Mr Murray was trying to protect himself. “You put your fingers into his left eye and destroyed his vision in that eye. > Continued on page 3
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