Violence victim marries man who assaulted her

A man who kidnapped his partner after hacking out chunks of her hair and threatening her at gunpoint has married her while in custody.

Mark William Hutton, 43, was yesterday set to begin a trial defending several assault, kidnapping and drugs charges in Hamilton District Court.

Hutton - who was supported in court by his father - pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting a female, assault using a knife as a weapon, assault with intent to injure and kidnapping from incidents between August 23 and September 14 last year.

He will reappear without plea until later this week on a variety of methamphetamine charges.

The court heard that in August last year Hutton and his partner - the victim - became involved in a verbal argument. Hutton then told the victim he was going to chop her hair off. He grabbed a small pocket knife and cut off several chunks.

Then around September 6 or 7, Hutton and the victim became involved in another argument, and he travelled to her house where he bound her hands and pulled out clumps of hair.

On September 13, Hutton - while at the victim's home, along with her daughter - made various threats with a firearm he had before detaining her in her house overnight and not allowing her to leave.

The next morning, he allowed the victim to get her children ready for school, but she was not able to escape until later that day. That incident sparked an armed offenders squad call-out to Hutton's parents' property at MacDiarmid Rd, Hamilton.

In convicting Hutton, Judge Marshall also issued a three strikes warning on the kidnapping charge.

- © Fairfax NZ News