A woman whose husband cut off two of her fingers and two of her toes in a brutal machete attack has told a court she forgives him and blames herself for provoking him.
Tiperia “Ria” Afamiliona, 45, wrote an extraordinary letter to the court in support of her husband, Atinae Afamiliona, at his sentencing hearing for grievous bodily harm today.
The court heard Ms Afamiliona not only forgave her husband, she had an apprehended violence order against him changed so she could visit him in jail where he remains on remand.
Afamiliona attacked his wife with a machete on the corner of Raby and Campbelltown roads in western Sydney on August 29 last year.
The couple had been driving home when they began arguing about their marriage.
Afamiliona, who was driving, pulled over to the side of the road prompting Ms Afamiliona to get out to try to hail a taxi.
When Afamiliona tried to physically restrain her she allegedly scratched him and he pulled a 45cm machete from underneath a car mat.
Ms Afamiliona put her arms and hands up to her face to protect herself as the blows reigned down.
Terrified, she crawled under the car trying to escape but her husband continued to hack at her exposed legs and feet saying, “this is what you want”.
After he had struck her at least 10 times, he put her back in the car and drove her to Campbelltown Hospital.
He then went home to wait for police.
When he was interviewed by police, he blamed his wife for the attack saying she had “hurt” him by telling him she no longer loved him. He also suspected her of having an affair.
The court papers state that in a police interview he told officers: “He was not drunk or taking drugs, but the victim made him do this because he is hurt.”
His lawyer Kieran Ginges said the attack was “spontaneous and there was no element of premeditation”.
He also said Afamiliona showed “immediate” remorse both to the victim and police.
Crown Prosecutor Bernadette O’Reilly described the attack as “so vicious that not only were there amputations there was a fracturing of the bones”.
Ms O’Reilly said it also showed a pattern of “escalation” in violence by Afamiliona.
Afamiliona had previously been convicting for assaulting a child, intimidating his wife by throwing a beer bottle at her, contravening an Apprehended Violence Order and breaching an AVO.
Ms O’Reilly said his wife’s letter to the court demonstrated, “her incredible dependency on him”.
“The letter can be seen as a symptom of being caught in a cycle of domestic violence,” she said.
Afamiliona’s daughter, Falenuutupu Afamiliona, 19, also gave evidence in support of her father saying she had only seem him hit his mother three times and that usually when in the grip of his regular rages he would “take it out on a punching bag” in the backyard.
Afamiliona will be sentenced next month.
This story was written by Sarah Crawford and has been copied from here.
Tiperia “Ria” Afamiliona, 45, wrote an extraordinary letter to the court in support of her husband, Atinae Afamiliona, at his sentencing hearing for grievous bodily harm today.
The court heard Ms Afamiliona not only forgave her husband, she had an apprehended violence order against him changed so she could visit him in jail where he remains on remand.
Afamiliona attacked his wife with a machete on the corner of Raby and Campbelltown roads in western Sydney on August 29 last year.
The couple had been driving home when they began arguing about their marriage.
Afamiliona, who was driving, pulled over to the side of the road prompting Ms Afamiliona to get out to try to hail a taxi.
When Afamiliona tried to physically restrain her she allegedly scratched him and he pulled a 45cm machete from underneath a car mat.
Ms Afamiliona put her arms and hands up to her face to protect herself as the blows reigned down.
Terrified, she crawled under the car trying to escape but her husband continued to hack at her exposed legs and feet saying, “this is what you want”.
After he had struck her at least 10 times, he put her back in the car and drove her to Campbelltown Hospital.
He then went home to wait for police.
When he was interviewed by police, he blamed his wife for the attack saying she had “hurt” him by telling him she no longer loved him. He also suspected her of having an affair.
The court papers state that in a police interview he told officers: “He was not drunk or taking drugs, but the victim made him do this because he is hurt.”
His lawyer Kieran Ginges said the attack was “spontaneous and there was no element of premeditation”.
He also said Afamiliona showed “immediate” remorse both to the victim and police.
Crown Prosecutor Bernadette O’Reilly described the attack as “so vicious that not only were there amputations there was a fracturing of the bones”.
Ms O’Reilly said it also showed a pattern of “escalation” in violence by Afamiliona.
Afamiliona had previously been convicting for assaulting a child, intimidating his wife by throwing a beer bottle at her, contravening an Apprehended Violence Order and breaching an AVO.
Ms O’Reilly said his wife’s letter to the court demonstrated, “her incredible dependency on him”.
“The letter can be seen as a symptom of being caught in a cycle of domestic violence,” she said.
Afamiliona’s daughter, Falenuutupu Afamiliona, 19, also gave evidence in support of her father saying she had only seem him hit his mother three times and that usually when in the grip of his regular rages he would “take it out on a punching bag” in the backyard.
Afamiliona will be sentenced next month.
This story was written by Sarah Crawford and has been copied from here.
