A former partner described the “evil, smirking look” on Paul Dumelow’s face as he told her: “Your children will never see you alive again.”
She told the 51-year-old’s Christchurch District Court sentencing, “I have never experienced such coldness or darkness before. The man who trapped me in my bedroom that night was pure evil.”
Judge Raoul Neave jailed Dumelow for four years six months for a crime that the Crown said was “heading towards a murder-suicide”.
Dumelow had admitted charges of kidnapping and threatening to kill the woman, and the aggravated burglary of her house, as well as the aggravated assault of a police officer at the address in Christchurch.
Prosecutor Pip Currie said the Crown was sceptical about Dumelow’s insight into the effects of the offending or his remorse. He was assessed as a low risk of further offending, unless there was a change of mood. He had been imprisoned previously.
Defence counsel Marcus Zintl said experts agreed that Dumelow had been suffering from a major depressive illness at the time. His judgment had been affected by taking two prescribed drugs at the time and his actions were not those of a rational person.
The woman told the court she feared for her safety when he was eventually released, but Dumelow said through his lawyer that he wanted to reassure her that he was not a risk.
Dumelow arrived at the woman’s address on February 11, 2017, and parked in the driveway. He grabbed a bag containing a hammer, cable ties, a craft knife, a plastic drink bottle filled with petrol, and a bottle of wine.
He kicked a side gate open and yelled at the victim,“I’ve come to finish this”.
He entered the house and demanded the woman go upstairs with him to her bedroom, and when she refused he grabbed her right upper arm, and forced her up the stairs. She yelled at her son to phone the police.
Dumelow pushed a large set of drawers over the door of the bedroom, preventing the woman from getting away and stopping anyone getting in to help.
He told the woman to stop crying and said, “I’ll pour petrol on you now and light you on fire”.
Dumelow got the knife from his bag and held it near her throat saying he was going to slit it, and started drinking from the bottle of wine.
He told the woman: “I’m ending this here, I’m not leaving this room alive and you’re probably not either”.
While Dumelow was getting items out of his bag the woman managed to call her sister on her cellphone and yelled for help. He grabbed the phone from her and smashed it with the hammer.
A police officer arrived and tried to open the bedroom door. He yelled at Dumelow to let him in, and could hear the victim screaming. He kicked the door and as it began to break apart he could see in the room.
The victim tried to climb out the bedroom window, but Dumelow moved towards her with the knife. She jumped over the bed and tried to move the drawers and gave enough access for the police officer to taser Dumelow who was attempting the hit him with the wine bottle.
While trapped in the bedroom, the woman told the court she had pleaded with Dumelow not to kill her for the sake of her children, but he told her the children would never see her again. She said he held up the knife and threatened to slit her throat, and throw petrol on her and set her alight.
“I was absolutely convinced I was going to die in my bedroom that night,” she said.
Her son had displayed huge courage and wisdom beyond his years that night in getting help, and she would be forever grateful to him and the police for saving her life.
She now suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was having flashbacks and nightmares.
Judge Neave said Dumelow’s behaviour had been “selfish and cruel”. His actions had been “pre-planned, premeditated, and calculated” and the incident was “a significant act of domestic terrorism”.
The woman’s son had behaved with conspicuous bravery and strength of character.
The pre-sentence report was generally favourable, and Dumelow had support from his family who held him in high regard. The judge declined to make any allowance in the sentence for “mental health issues”.
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