The father of Cash McKinnon has been told to reform his violent ways, after he was jailed for pouring boiling water over a woman in a "hideous'' attack.
The woman has permanent name suppression, which means the Manawatu Standard is unable to reveal her connection to Nicky Mark Douglas, 29, who was today sent to prison for five years and eight months on a disfiguring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm charge.
Judge Barbara Morris in the Palmerston North District Court, decided Douglas must serve a minimum term of three years.
Under parole legislation, offenders are otherwise eligible for release after a third of their sentence.
Douglas is no stranger to the court room and last year sat through a High Court trial in Palmerston North, which saw Sean James Donnelly, 24, convicted of the manslaughter of Douglas' three-year-old daughter, Cash McKinnon. Donnelly is serving seven years in prison after Cash died of brain injuries caused by swinging her around by her legs and dropping her in August 2009.
Judge Morris implored Douglas to stop using violence. Douglas was going to defend the charge but changed his mind at a sentence indication hearing earlier this year, sparing the victim from having to give evidence at a trial.
But she was left with severe burns from the incident, which took place in Sanson, near Bulls, on July 11 last year. Douglas abused the woman and clawed at her face. He then pushed her on to a bed, grabbed a jug of boiling water and poured it over her back and the right side of her body. It left burns that went through then skin and ultimately the layer of skin came off. In severe pain, the victim screamed and ran for the shower. Douglas told her to tell the police it was an accident.
Steve Winter, Defence lawyer said Douglas was not optimistic about his future, and had difficulty expressing emotion. He has deep-seated complicated issues and a limited set of personal resources with which to confront them. Douglas has a number of previous convictions for violence, including being sent to prison for waving a samurai sword around during a series of assaults in Feilding on Boxing Day, 2008. TOT News
Norwegian
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