It's not OK to hit someone. EVER

[Mikkel]

Your "beliefs" don't seem to have much bearing on reality, do they?

Besides being sexist - that clause does not take into account the resulting injury. I am confident that you could be imprisoned for more than 2 years if the assault ended up with the victim dying of her injuries.

Surely there's a difference between assault causing injury and assault... If you slap someone that can constitute assault - if you hit someone in the head with a baseball bat turning them into a vegetable that is a different situation.

[devnull]

Besides being sexist - that clause does not take into account the resulting injury. I am confident that you could be imprisoned for more than 2 years if the assault ended up with the victim dying of her injuries.

Surely there's a difference between assault causing injury and assault... If you slap someone that can constitute assault - if you hit someone in the head with a baseball bat turning them into a vegetable that is a different situation.

Look for yourself
http://legislation.govt.nz/act/publi...DLM327382.html

[ajturbo]

I never said it's ok, just not as clear cut as what's made out sometimes.

I'm with you here....
MOST times it takes too to tango........

but to the main point,

i would not be impressed if what i did 3 years ago was being discussed in the media, especially if i had taken steps to fix a problem i had!!

who was it the brought this thing the media?..

and why?...$$$$ must be involved

[Stickchick]

MOST times it takes too to tango........

MOST times? I have to disagree with you here. I am a survivor of violence from a partner and I didn't do anything to provoke him except maybe breathe. From the people I know that have been involved in domestic violence, women would get beaten for disagreeing or even thinking for themselves.

[Jez]

I am not condoning what Vietch did 3 years ago at all ...
but i also dont think his ex had any right to send a letter to his lawyers with a "non-negotiable" figure for reparations on it ...

if he had any sort of spine he would get his $150-170k back and stand in front of a court and take what he deserves ...

someone mentioned earlier about an out of court settlement - i think they only stand in private lawsuits, this would be deemed a state case (not sure of terms, but there is a difference) as the police seem to be the only ones "thinking" of placing charges for the assault/GBH

[Gubb]

Must say I completely disagree with the Threads title, but i'll try to keep it on topic.

[Mom]

Indeed, if she extorted Mr. Veitch she deserves to be charged with it.
It doesn't mean that Mr. Veitch is excused... Two wrongs doesn't make a right!

Bang On!

There is obviously much more to this than meets the eye. No doubt there will be all sorts of mitigating circumstances blah, blah, blah. No matter what though it is NEVER OK to beat a woman. There are a few on here that would be aware of my background, for me domestic violence against women (and to be fair here, some men too) is the tip of the child abuse problem we have in NZ.

There has been money paid for "compensation" and a suggestion that it was to keep her quiet. His bosses were "sort of" informed and did nothing. She complained to the Police but never turned up to make it official. There were others that knew a bit about this. This is a whitewash in all ways!

Hope he does not take the easy way out of this though, that really would be the mark of the coward. He needs to face his demons and deal with them properly and now I guess publicly as his story is out here. If that means he loses his job/fine homes/respect of some people, tough.

Be very interesting to know who actually made this public.

[peasea]

He paid hush money/compensation,so presumably the only ones knowing about the assault were the two involved,also how does the money Veitch paid to the victim effect her ACC claims,as I thought you had to say if you recieved any money from income,investments etc,this could come under "investment"(stupid I know).Asuming he paid hush money then wouldn't he be entitled to it being returned to him.I sure as hell don't think he would blab to the media.

Also how the hell did she manage to be assaulted in his bedroon,she was there for dinner/talk about the relationship,you would assume that would take place in the lounge or dining area would you not?

Not for once am I suggesting he is innocent at all,but the truth needs to come out.

And I like his I have no excuse blah,blah,blah, crap then says because of my jobs and long hours blah blah blah crap,he wanted the glory and $$$ for doing the job,tough shit.No excuse eh,sounds like a few there.

I see on telly tonight that he has offered his services to the "It's not ok" campaign. That's big of him (ironic, I know....). However, the campaign organisers say that presenters of their ad's need to fully confront their crime, confess fully and be accountable. His 'statement' isn't a confession, it's not confronting the issue and it's certainly not offering accountability.

"I lashed out" doesn't say; "I broke her back and kicked the crap out of her while she was on the floor, I'm a fuckin' pig, lock me up".

Or does it?

[peasea]

MOST times? I have to disagree with you here. I am a survivor of violence from a partner and I didn't do anything to provoke him except maybe breathe. From the people I know that have been involved in domestic violence, women would get beaten for disagreeing or even thinking for themselves.

While I must say that some females get out of line at times, so do males.

The trouble is; females almost always end up on the shitty end of the stick due to their smaller stature. I've not hit a female unless in self defence, however, I've been clocked by two females and only retaliated once but that once gave me bad rep in eyes of the law.

Try shaking a reputation for domestic violence even when SHE started it and threw the first punch.

The second time that same woman hit me I did nothing but STILL she dragged me over the coals. Some days you just can't win but breaking backs sure isn't a solution.

[Winston001]

Glad most people think violence against partners is inexcusable.

I think Kirsten Dunne-Powell has done the women of NZ a disservice by not reporting the assault at the time. Would have been very useful in the stop-domestic violence campaign. However she had her reasons.

In NZ, reparation (money) is often ordered to be paid to the victim of assault. That's what happened here. The wrongdoer paid compensation to the victim. The fact they settled it in the civil arena (privately) rather than through the criminal process might be frustrating for the rest of us - but it is completely lawful.

The only caveat I'll add is that you cannot contract out of the criminal law so their agreement would have been very carefully worded.

Another matter - the $150,000 could have been paid to a Family Trust for Ms Dunne-Powell and not to her personally. That way she'd be able to claim ACC etc although there is nothing to suggest that happened.

[Forest]

You can't contract out of the criminal justice system. And if you could, it would set a hideous precedent.

Can I kill someone I don't like if I pay their family a million dollars? I didn't think so.

That is true in the NZ legal system.

But it is not a universal principle. For a counter-example see the Islamic practice of Diya.

[Skyryder]

That is true in the NZ legal system.

But it is not a universal principle. For a counter-example see the Islamic practice of Diya.

You can not contract out a killing under Muslim law as you can not do under Commonwealth law. Diya is after the event not before.


Skyryder

[peasea]

D-I-Y-A? What's that? Do It Yourself Aggro?

[Grahameeboy]

I think we need to judge once the full facts are known.

The assumption is that he beat her up but the circumstances are not known. It could have been a simple crapple or push and in a bedroom there are plenty of things to fall against which can break your back...for eg, I was thrown 25 feet when hit by a hit and run driver years ago...I landed on my back and got up...maybe if I had landed at a different angle I may not have been so lucky.

If it was an accident then to be honest I don't blame him for being scared of telling everyone. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

Lets get the facts right...the Media are trying to sell papers.

[imdying]

She mighta been asking for it for a long time, some women can be total bitches

As far as putting him in jail goes, she must've been happy with the $$$ she got, as she's said nothing about it. Not sure how I feel about that yet... sure, it's probably better than any other reparation or satisfaction she's likely to get through the legal system, but do we really want the rich to be able to pay their way out of things like that?