Duo sentenced for trying to put plastic spoon up friend's bottom, filming incident

Amber-Rose Birkinshaw and Dylan Steven van Opdorp trying to put a spoon up a friend’s anus was a crime, not a prank, the Palmerston North District Court has heard.
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Amber-Rose Birkinshaw and Dylan Steven van Opdorp trying to put a spoon up a friend’s anus was a crime, not a prank, the Palmerston North District Court has heard.

A man whose friends tried to put a spoon up his anus only found out when he was sent a video of the incident.

The act had echoes of the infamous Taradale High School​ broomstick incident, the Palmerston North District Court heard on Wednesday.

Amber-Rose Birkinshaw​, 21, and Dylan Steven van Opdorp​, 28, were both sentenced to four weeks’ community detention and ordered to pay $1000 reparation for their roles in the spoon attack.

Birkinshaw had pleaded guilty to indecent assault, while van Opdorp admitted inciting indecent assault.

They were initially charged with attempted sexual violation and inciting attempted sexual violation, but the charges were downgraded.

The pair and the victim knew each other and regularly partied together.

They would drink and take drugs in excess, and did so prior to the offences in June 2019.

The victim was asleep when van Opdorp started filming on a cellphone.

Birkinshaw pulled the victim's pants and underwear down before repeatedly trying to put a plastic spoon in his anus.

She was encouraged by van Opdorp, who moved to get a better view for his video.

The victim came to and asked what was happening, at which time it was suggested he should use the spoon to have some icecream.

He found out what had happened when he was sent the video by van Opdorp three days later.

Birkinshaw and van Opdorp applied to be discharged without conviction, their lawyers saying convictions were too harsh.

Birkinshaw’s lawyer Simon Hewson​ said she had cancelled travel plans after being charged, meaning she was unable to go on her overseas experience.

People seeing a conviction for indecent assault were unlikely to look at the circumstances of the offending, which was a prank between people who pranked each other often, he said.

Van Opdorp’s lawyer Chris Tennet​ said his client wanted to complete his medical studies and had an offer of employment that would fall over if he were convicted.

Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk said the arguments raised by the defendants were vague and not strong enough to warrant a discharge.

The offending brought to mind the Taradale High School broomstick incident, Vanderkolk said.

That involved a group – including the school's head boy, deputy head boy and head of sport – violating a student with a broomstick smeared with Vicks during a party in 2001.

Judge Jonathan Krebs​ agreed, saying the spoon offending was not a prank.

Indecent assault often involved touching over clothes. This was under clothes and extremely close to attempted sexual violation, he said.

The victim had moved away from Palmerston North, and suffered anxiety, depression and a loss of confidence, the judge said.

He was vulnerable at the time and should have been able to trust his friends to keep him safe.

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