The dog was seen whimpering, yelping and scurrying backwards as she was being hit to the body and feet, before Little threw the shovel at the dog, hitting her head.
After being confronted, Little told the witness to “mind her own business”, and told her he was hitting Marama because she had toileted on his deck.
Hawaiki Dean Little was sentenced in the Tauranga District Court this week. Photo / Hannah Bartlett
SPCA inspectors attended Little’s address in the days that followed, along with two police officers, and Little confirmed he was the man who had been complained about.
He asked if they wanted to see what he had used to hit Marama, before retrieving a “small plastic dust pan and brush”, which he threw on the ground.
The dog was taken away and examined by a vet, and was observed avoiding placing full weight on her right hind limb. She flinched when patted on her left shoulder, back and hip, and had skin discolouration indicative of bruising.
‘So fearful … they fled into a room’
Then, in June of this year, Little’s violence extended to his daughter and ex-partner.
He became verbally abusive, and after the pair hid in a bedroom, he broke the door down with a pool cue.
As his daughter tried to stop him from assaulting her mother, the 47-year-old put his hands around her neck and punched her to the right side of the ribs, and to the side of her face.
Then he kicked her in the ribs.
Judge Bill Lawson noted this “was all while she was trying to protect her mother from an attack by you”.
This led to Little being charged with assault with intent to injure.
The judge said the assault happened in a family home where the victims were “entitled to feel safe”.
“Both [your daughter] and her mother were so fearful of you, they fled into a room and tried to lock the door, and you broke your way into that room.”
The ill-treatment of the dog had been “callous and cruel”.
“Clearly, your dog was seriously injured, and you, when asked to reconsider your behaviour, told people involved to mind their own business,” Judge Lawson said.
Judge Lawson noted Little had previous convictions that included a family violence conviction for wounding with reckless disregard, four convictions for assault with intent to injure, and one conviction for assaulting police.
The court heard Little had also received an earlier written warning from the SPCA, after it received video footage of the man using an object to strike a puppy around its head and neck area.
A pre-sentence report assessed the man as having a “high risk of reoffending”, and the judge said his comments to the report-writer appeared to be trying to justify what he had done.
“[You said] the door was slammed in your face and your toes got jammed in the door. As a result of that, you got angry and then reacted to that anger,” the judge said.
However, Little also said he was ashamed of himself and his behaviour, and was remorseful and willing to engage in rehabilitation programmes.
The judge adopted a starting point, for both sets of offending, of 16 months’ imprisonment.
The man was given a 20% discount for his guilty plea, having initially pleaded not guilty.
He was given a further 5% discount for background and remorse.
After those discounts were applied, Little was given a two-month uplift for his previous convictions.
He was given an end sentence of 14 months’ imprisonment, with six months’ standard release conditions.
On the charge of ill-treatment of an animal, Little was disqualified from owning a companion animal for five years, and was required to forfeit any current ownership of a companion animal.
He was ordered to pay $198 reparation for vet costs, and a “minimal” $250 contribution to legal costs, because of his personal financial circumstances.
Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.