30. August 2000
Re: Assault by Female
On July 8th 2000 Mr. Kevin Rutter was assaulted
and abused by his former wife, Miss Hazel Walker. It had been arranged
by the parties’ respective legal counsel for Miss Walker to attend
Mr. Rutter’s home to uplift personal items. It had also been arranged
for Miss Walker to have her mother present as support person.
I live as a paying guest in Mr. Rutter’s home and
had just arrived back at 1015 with my 2 daughters, aged 11 and 7. Miss
Walker had arrived some seconds beforehand and had three persons with
her – her mother, her sister, and an unknown male. They had arrived
in a truck and that truck was parked in the driveway, blocking in Mr.
Rutter’s car.
Mr. Rutter’s fiancée Mrs. Vacharakiet came
to me and asked if she could remain in my room with my daughters until
she could leave the property. Apparently the respective parties had agreed
that Mrs. Vacharakiet was not to be present at this time, but neither
Mr. Rutter or Mrs. Vacharakiet or Mr. Rutter’s counsel had been informed
of when Miss walker would attend the property.
Mrs. Vacharakiet asked me if I would arrange for the truck
to be moved so she could leave in the car. I went upstairs. Mr. Rutter,
Miss walker, and her support persons were in the kitchen and Miss Walker
was rummaging through the kitchen cupboards for some personal possessions.
As I entered the kitchen, I saw Miss Walker rush at MR. Rutter, stopping
right in front of him, hitting him with her arm, and raising her leg as
if to knee him in the groin. Mr. Rutter did not react. Miss Walker’s
support persons witnessed this assault also. Apparently Mr. Rutter had
requested Miss walker to repack items taken from the drawers/cupboards
and left discarded on the floor.
Miss walker then went into the computer room to look for
items. Mr. Rutter and Miss Walker’s mother also went into the room.
I heard Miss walker abusing Mr. Rutter and obviously trying to goad Mr.
Rutter into an action detrimental to his best interests. Mr. Rutter began
to respond to Miss Walker’s taunting and abuse, and I therefore went
into the room and advised Mr. Rutter to leave the room. I then advised
Miss Walker of Mr. Rutter’s rights under the law, and I was going
to ensure she did not abuse him. Miss Walker then verbally abused me.
I informed Miss Walker that should her behaviour continue I would ring
the Police and have them remove her from the property.
Some 30 minutes or so later, Miss Walker, Mr. Rutter, Miss
Walker’s mother, and sister were in the workshop downstairs. I was
in the adjacent laundry looking through the doorway. Miss Walker again
abused Mr. Rutter and tried to goad him into a response. When I advised
Mr. Rutter not to respond Miss walker tried to talk me down, and when
I ignored her actions she told me to “F...k off.”
Later in the day Mr. Rutter went to the Avondale Police
Station and spoke to Constable McNair. After some discussion Constable
McNair noted some details in his notebook and stated to Mr. Rutter that
the Police would speak to Miss Walker in respect of her behaviour. However,
Constable McNair did not ask pertinent details such as Miss Walker’s
name, address, or telephone number. Constable McNair also informed Mr.
Rutter the Police would not investigate his complaint as the Court would
not find against a female assaulting a male He did however agree that
had the situation been reversed he would have had no option other than
to arrest Mr. Rutter for assault.
Upon hearing this later in the afternoon, I rang the Avondale
Police Station and spoke to a Sergeant in the Watch House. He was aware
of Mr. Rutter’s complaint but told me the Court would not find a
female guilty of assaulting a male but the Police were obliged to take
a complaint. We also discussed relevant sections of the Crimes Act, the
Domestic Violence Act and evident discrimination against males in general
and Mr. Rutter and particular.
On the morning of 11th July, I telephoned and
spoke with Senior Sergeant Sutton, O/C Avondale Police Station, in respect
of these matters. Snr. Sgt. Sutton requested that Mr. Rutter come to the
Avondale Station and one of .his officers would take the complaint.
Mr. Rutter made his complaint and the matter was referred
to Avondale CIU. The file was subsequently actioned by Constable Wichmann,
Mt. Roskill Community Constable. This was apparently at the request of
Snr. Sgt. Sutton as his officers were busy investigating 20 armed robberies
in the district.
Some two weeks or so after the fact, Constable Wichmann
spoke with Mr. Rutter and Mr. Rutter subsequently informed me that the
Police seemed to be extremely reluctant to proceed and he had to justify
his every action. Constable Wichmann then went on leave and upon his return
from leave informed Mr. Rutter that the Police would not proceed with
his complaint of assault at the hands of Miss Walker. No explanation was
given.
Mr. Rutter is extremely concerned at the apparent bias
and discrimination against him in this matter. The Police officers involved
both agreed with Mr. Rutter’s statement that had the situation been
reversed, then he would have been arrested forthwith, charged with the
offence Male Assaults Female, and detained in custody.
Regards,
Alan Sutherland
N.B. These views are those of the author and not necessarily those
of the NZ Equality Education Foundation.
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