By Rob Kidd for the Otago Daily Times
A woman whose partner posted ''revenge porn'' on her Facebook page days after giving her a vicious hiding, says she loves him and wants to continue their relationship.
Stock photo. Photo: 123RF
''She's made her mind up. She's an adult and she's entitled to do so,'' Judge Thomas Ingram told the Dunedin District Court this week.
''It's not for me to pass any comment on that.''
Darryl John Millar, 34, was set to defend charges of assaulting a female and posting a harmful digital communication at trial in May.
Instead he cut off his electronic-monitoring bracelet while on bail and went on the run.
He later pleaded guilty to the charges in June after being apprehended.
Millar - a patched Killer Beez gang member, according to court documents - was in an on-off relationship with the victim.
On 25 July last year, she called it off.
Two days later, when she picked Millar up to take him to a meeting with Probation, he lashed out.
The man told his partner there was a gang ''hit'' out on her and laughed at her.
Millar then punched the woman in the face as she drove along Cumberland St.
When she pulled over, he punched her again, before she bolted from the vehicle.
Judge Ingram said the description of the victim's injuries did not do justice to photos he had been shown, ''which show unequivocally a pretty serious assault on this young woman by you''.
Defence counsel Brian Kilkelly said his client was going through the trauma of losing his father at the time and had unresolved anger issues.
Millar unleashed his wrath online two days later.
He accessed the victim's Facebook account and posted seven photos of her naked.
They were accompanied by comments in the ''modern vernacular'' inviting men to have sex with her, the court heard.
''Those were photos she didn't know anything about. He put them on her Facebook page where all her friends and family are going to see it,'' the judge said.
''It's revenge porn, effectively.''
Judge Ingram said it was hard to imagine a worse case under the relatively new Harmful Digital Communications Act.
Despite that, he noted it was clear the victim still loved Millar and wanted to support him.
Mr Kilkelly invited the court to break the cycle his client had perpetuated for many years - ''prison, out, offending, prison''.
But the judge said it was too serious for anything less than a jail term.
He underlined Millar's criminal credentials, which included more than 100 convictions, 24 of which were for breaching court orders.
''You're a young man who's made a mess of your life. You can do much better than this,'' he said.
Millar was sentenced to two years and five months' imprisonment.
Where to get help:
Women's Refuge: (0800 733 843)
It's Not OK (0800 456 450)
Shine: 0508 744 633
]http://www.victimsinfo.govt.nz/ Victim Support]: 0800 650 654
HELP Call 24/7 (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): be 04 801 6655 - 0
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
* This story was originally published on the Otago Daily Times.
