Parkinson was sentenced in July to two years and two months in prison for wounding with intent to do harm and culpable bodily harm, but she appealed against that sentence to the High Court.
Supreme Court Justice David Boldt rejected his appeal, saying in his written judgment that Parkinson’s prison sentence could have been longer.
The charges stem from two related events that occurred on the evening of September 21, 2023.
Judge David Boldt rejected Stephen Parkinson’s appeal against his prison sentence. Photo / George Heard
Just after 7 p.m. Parkinson arrived at a property in Gisborne and used a tomahawk to smash a Hyundai Sonata parked on the road.
When he saw the owner looking at him through the window, he shouted, “Fuck you,” got back in the car and drove away.
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The damage to the vehicle, including a shattered windshield, broken side windows and a large hole in the roof, was beyond repair. It has since been scrapped.
Shortly after crashing the car, Parkinson returned with about five of his colleagues.
The car owner’s son had just arrived and was standing in front of the house.
Parkinson exited the vehicle and approached the man, holding a tomahawk in his right hand.
He struck his victim with full force with his tomahawk, connecting with his left arm.
Victim chased by gang members
As the victim fled, gang members chased him, then got into their vehicles and drove away.
The victim suffered a compound fracture to his left arm. He required surgery to remove bone fragments from his elbow.
When police later caught up with Parkinson, he claimed that the man he injured had been “stalking” Parkinson’s former partner.
Parkinson was initially charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, but pleaded not guilty until the charge was downgraded to the less serious of wounding with intent to cause injury, 10 days before his scheduled trial.
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Parkinson has almost 40 convictions, including one for causing injury with intent to harm, for which he was sentenced to two years and two months in prison in 2011. This crime also involved the use of weapons.
Since 2017, he has been convicted of intentional bodily harm, possession of a knife and domestic violence assault, receiving prison sentences.
A tendency to violence was found
The probation officer’s report prepared before the verdict revealed a tendency to violence. He has been a member of the mafia for 14 years and has no intention of leaving the gang.
Parkinson appealed against his final prison sentence on the grounds that the judge did not give him sufficient credit for his guilty plea or expression of remorse.
He expressed this in a letter written to the victim and her family, expressing the hope that they would become friends in the future.
However, Judge Boldt said Parkinson maintained his plea of innocent pending a plea deal after being free on bail for seven months, with the letter written shortly before sentencing.
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“Mr Parkinson could have written to the victim much earlier if the only disagreement between him and the Crown was whether the charges were at the appropriate level.
“It is also important to note that much of the regret that Mr Parkinson expressed to the author of the pre-sentence report was due to the impact that the offense had on his own situation. He showed limited insight into the seriousness of this matter.”
Judge Boldt dismissed the appeal.
“Given the seriousness of the crime and the numerous aggravating circumstances, the final sentence could easily have been higher,” he said.
Ric Stevens worked for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency for many years, including as a political reporter in Parliament, before taking up senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing on crime and justice is based on four years of experience on the front lines as a probation officer.
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