11 Dec 2018

Parole refused for man who removed partners' teeth

2:41 pm on 11 December 2018

A man who extracted teeth from two of his partners, using a pair of pliers in what a judge described as an "almost torture-like" way, has been denied parole.

Philip Hansen, 56, was sentenced in the Wellington District Court today on several charges, including two of wounding with intent to injure

Phil Hansen was jailed for six years in 2015 on several charges, including two of wounding with intent to injure. Photo: RNZ

Philip Hansen was jailed for six years in June 2015 after a jury found him guilty on several charges, including two of wounding with intent to injure.

At his trial, the Court heard Hansen was obsessed with women's teeth and believed oral sex was better with toothless women.

An examination of his computer revealed over 600 searches relating to tooth extraction and to 'fat gummy ladies'.

Hansen forced his first victim to the floor, held her down and removed four of her teeth with a pair of pliers.

He was having sex in the back of his car with his second victim when he used pliers to pull out one of her teeth, throwing it out the window, then giving her an oily rag to clean her mouth, telling her to 'suck it up'.

That woman told the jury that on another occasion she woke to find Hansen holding her in a headlock and trying to get to her teeth. When she told him to stop he violently sexually assaulted her. The woman said he preyed on vulnerable women, exploited her and left her "broken and destroyed".

At an earlier parole hearing the Board had been surprised that Hansen registered a low score on a statistical tool used to predict the likelihood of reoffending.

It said there was a need for individual psychological intervention as a psychologist had recommended, but "it could be some time before [Hansen] would have completed that intervention and have an adequate release plan."

Last month Hansen appeared before the Parole Board again and his lawyer made a strong request that his client be released.

However the Board said: "We are left in a situation where we are urged to direct a release on parole when there has not been appropriate intervention for what we agree is extreme offending.

"We do not have sufficient, or any, information or advice about actual risk sufficient to satisfy us it is not undue and we are not persuaded at this stage of the sentence that it would be safe to direct release.

"We say that notwithstanding the risk level indicated by the psychologist."

The board also questioned whether Philip Hansen's acknowledgement of full responsibility for his offending or his understanding of the causes of it, saying he simply referred to it as "a black moment".

It recommended he undergo psychological treatment and indicated it will see him again next December.