Tauranga man Andrew Walsh-Thompson jailed for stabbing at fish and chip shop

Today, the 36-year-old was sentenced to prison by the Tauranga District Court for causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Walsh-Thompson was in the Pāpāmoa area near where his ex-partner and the victim lived when he followed them to Coastland Takeaways on March 14, armed with a knife. He approached the victim from behind as he stood at the counter.

The victim attempted to defend himself by hitting Walsh-Thompson and covering his neck with a hoodie he had wrapped around his shoulders.

After the attack, which lasted approximately 15 seconds from the time he entered the store to the time he left, Walsh-Thompson ran down Pāpāmoa Beach Road, throwing the knife away as he ran.

A short time later, Walsh-Thompson turned himself in to the police.

The victim suffered two wounds – a deep cut on the left side of his neck, about 2 to 3 cm deep, which required four stitches, and a gaping wound on his chin which required six stitches.

The victim lost a liter of blood and was admitted to intensive care, where a drain was placed in his throat to prevent blood from entering his airways.

When announcing the sentence, prosecutor Laura Clay said it was “a fortunate coincidence” that not all of the blows were successful.

She said the incident was unprovoked and targeted; Walsh-Thompson had already appeared in a public place armed with a knife.

The fact that the victim did not suffer more serious injuries was “another stroke of luck,” she said.

Defence lawyer David Bates said Walsh-Thompson claimed he held the blade in an “inverted position” so that the blunt end of the handle pointed towards his fingertips and the blade pointed towards his elbow.

Bates said he did not intend to use the tip of the knife when he first struck.

“He believes that while he was making these striking movements towards the victim and the knife was in the inverted position in his hand, it somehow caught on his hoodie or jacket during one of the blows and moved [the blade] into another position.”

“Applying common sense, and assuming the defendant had aimed the tip of the knife at the victim with each blow, one would have expected not just two wounds, but many more…” Bates said.

Before sentencing, Walsh-Thompson presented letters and written notes to the court explaining the cause of the incident and his feelings since then.

His lawyer said he admitted it was “wrong.”

“From his notes, you can see that his emotional stress and trauma had accumulated over time to the point where it boiled over. He was released from prison and lost control of his ability to properly handle the situation.”

Walsh-Thompson did not like that the victim was now with his ex-partner or how he treated his children.

He had previously been in a relationship with the woman for eight years, and she had begun a relationship with the victim while Walsh-Thompson was in prison.

Bates said his client knew he would have to go back to prison, but the question was for how long.

“He just hopes that he'll be able to cope much better once he gets out of prison.”

When sentencing, Judge Melinda Mason estimated that he would receive eight years in prison, but then reduced the sentence by 25% for his early guilty plea and a further 5% for a certain level of remorse.

However, she noted that although he showed remorse for the crime, he apparently still harbored “hatred” toward the victim.

However, during his pre-trial detention, he participated in every available rehabilitation course, including a self-regulation course.

“I see that you really want to change something. You want to change the way you deal with the problems that are facing you,” Judge Mason said.

She referred to his past medical history, which included physical abuse and neglect by his parents as a child, as well as his early school leaving.

He also had problems with drugs and alcohol at a very young age.

It applied a discount of 10% for background factors.

The judge increased the sentence by three months due to his recent violent crimes, resulting in a prison sentence of four years and seven months.

As Walsh-Thompson left the dock, he became emotional.

“Can I just say that the way they released me from prison was doomed from the start. If they hadn't done that, I would never have ended up in this shit.”

Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter with NZME. She previously covered courts and local government for the Nelson Mail and before that was a radio reporter with Newstalk ZB.