Jail sentence upheld

Press, 30 June 1983, Page 7

Jail sentence upheld

PA Wellington The Court of Appeal has upheld a two-year jail sentence imposed on a man for raping his former de facto wife.

James Parker Norman, of Auckland, had pleaded guilty on arraignment to the charge and was sentenced in the High Court at Auckland. He was appealing against the sentence. The circumstances in which the charge was brought were quite unusual, the Court’s judgment said. The complainant had been married nut was separated from her husband and had custody of her three children. Soon after the separation she began living with Norman for 6% years and had two children by him. She then decided she wanted no more emotional involvement with Norman; only a friendly relationship, but she let Norman visit the children.

Subsequently she became associated with Christianity and as a result, believed it was wrong to have a sexual relationship outside of marriage, but she claimed that on six or seven occasions after that Norman had sexual intercourse with her against her will. “The sentencing of the applicant in the circumstances of this case was a difficult task,” the judgment said. “It called for a balancing of the public concern for the protection of women on the one hand and the appellant’s personal circumstances on the other. “Some judges may have felt able to impose a lesser sentence. But we cannot say that it was outside the proper range of sentencing appropriate to the offence.” The Court of Appeal comprised Mr Justice Cooke, Mr Justice McMullin, and Sir Clifford Richmond.