13 Dec 2016

Dome Valley kidnapper jailed for 3 years

12:30 pm on 13 December 2016

A woman who took part in the kidnapping of another woman, who was found critically injured on the side of a north Auckland road, has been sentenced to over three years in prison.

Last month Jaclyn Keates pleaded guilty to kidnapping and using weapons on the victim including scissors and a cricket stump.

Exterior of the Auckland High Court

Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

The victim who has name suppression was found by a member of the public in a critical condition in Dome Valley on 9 May - a tattoo on her leg helped the police identify her.

In the High Court in Auckland today Justice Simon Moore sentenced Keates to three years and two months in prison.

Keates looked at the floor as her victim read out a statement.

"I am 20 years old and cannot look after myself as I am still recovering mentally and physically from the attack.

"I did not know Keates but I was completely overpowered by her," the victim told the court.

Supported by her mother, the victim said she feared for her life while she was repeatedly beaten.

"I was frightened, I was stripped naked, tied by my hands and feet and my hair was cut off.

"I was humiliated and degraded and thought I was going to die," she said.

The victim said she relies on her mother and is unable to sleep or work.

Justice Simon Moore said facts of the case made for difficult reading, and called the offending dreadful and shameful.

He explained how Keates did not know the victim but was friends with someone who had a long standing grudge against the victim.

"On the night of the attack you were drinking and smoked meth, something we hear all too often in these courts.

"You told the police you were so high you didn't know what was happening," Justice Moore said to Keates.

Justice Moore said at some point during the attack, which took place in a basement, Keates said she became concerned with what was happening and left.

"Only an hour after you left the address you text one of the other people involved in the abuse and torture and described the victim as a f***ing gutter rat.

"That message really speaks for itself, the words you chose are entirely consistent with the the attitude displayed but the group of which you were a part."

He thanked the victim for her courage in reading out her statment in front of Keates.

"You have robbed your victim of the normal life any 20-year-old should be able to enjoy."

Keates defence lawyer Paul Heaslip said his client was racked with disbelief and guilt with her role in the offending.

The victim has agreed to meet with Keates for restorative justice.

Five others charged with the kidnapping are still before the courts.

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