Joshua Winitana Keil, 37, was jailed for eight years on Friday for wounding the woman with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in what a judge called a “frenzied” attack.

His victim needed six operations to repair the damage he inflicted on her.

Keil was also given a concurrent term of three years in prison for wounding with intent to injure, for stabbing and puncturing the lung of a young man at the Napier house who came to the woman’s aid.

A Crown summary of facts said the woman suffered “very deep” wounds to the left side of her chest and her right lower abdomen.

She also suffered fractured ribs, a laceration to her kidney, three lacerations to her bowel, and knife cuts to an ear, both cheeks, her left shoulder, left flank and left thigh.

The woman was in the Napier District Court to see Keil sentenced but did not make a victim impact statement.

Judge Bridget Mackintosh said the young man who was also injured had made a statement that he remained “very angry” about what had happened, and never wanted to see Keil again.

Keil and the woman had been in a relationship. In the early hours of August 24 this year, he phoned her after he was released from police custody on unrelated matters, asking to come to her house.

The woman had been socialising at home the previous evening with two women friends. The young man was also at the house and was asleep.

The woman later told police that after Keil arrived he seemed “erratic and agitated”. He was rambling and would often change subjects while talking. She wondered if he had been on drugs.

“How could you do this to me?” he told her.

The woman told him she had not said anything about him to police.

The woman then left the kitchen and asked her friends to stay because she was worried about what he might do.

She continued talking to Keil, and a short time later he grabbed a 30cm knife from the kitchen bench and ran towards her.

Victim pinned to the ground

He stabbed her once in the shoulder as she ran from him, and then pinned her to the floor using his left hand and legs.

One of the woman’s friends who witnessed the attack later told police that she saw Keil’s arms going up and down “really fast” and she thought he was punching the victim.

The young man who responded to the victim’s screams said later: “He was just going at her with the knife — trying to get to her and stab her.”

As the victim tried to push Keil away, the young man punched Keil in the head to try to get him to stop.

Keil turned with the knife still in his hand and, with a punching motion, stabbed the young man in the chest, causing a penetrating wound which punctured his lung, and then slashed at his face and chest, causing further, more superficial injuries.

Keil then left the house but handed himself into the Hastings police station the next day. He also handed in the knife.

‘Horrendous’ attack

“This was an horrendous incident,” Crown Solicitor Steve Manning told the court.

Judge Mackintosh jailed Keil for eight years.

She said that Keil had a history of gang involvement and consistent and escalating violent offending.

She imposed a minimum period of two-thirds of the total sentence, meaning Keil will have to serve at least five years and four months before he is eligible for parole.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.