A Dunedin man who threatened police with finger guns and had to be pepper sprayed to submit has been jailed for a year.
Lionel James Apanui Tuwairua (39) had 17 pages of convictions, which according to Judge Peter Rollo showed a clear pattern of standover-style behavior.
Attorney John Westgate told Dunedin District Court that his client had a short fuse.
"When faced with a situation that he is unhappy with, he tends to react in a way that makes things worse," he said.
That was shown in November last year when Tuwairua was sentenced for violating a protection order.
When the judge reached a nine-month prison sentence, the defendant exploded.
Climbing onto the dock bench and clinging to the Perspex barrier, he unleashed a torrent of insults.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" He yelled at the judge.
Corrections staff grabbed the man before he could jump off the dock.
'Appeal it right now. I want a new lawyer, '' Tuwairua yelled.
However, there was no legal challenge to the result.
After his release, Tuwairua was living in a boarding house in central Dunedin in May this year when his bullying and impulsive nature re-emerged.
Due to the defendant's behavior, the property managers decided to terminate his lease.
But knowing their propensity to overreact, they called the police before planning to tell them.
His predictions turned out to be correct and Tuwairua "did not take the news well," the court heard.
"He immediately became enraged and began threatening the police and the tenants of the complex."
A confrontation developed and the police negotiated for a "prolonged period" to try to resolve it peacefully.
Tuwairua, however, continued to make verbal threats before punching holes in the wall of his room and head-banging the door.
He advanced towards the officers with clenched fists as he threatened to set the building on fire with its residents inside.
"He held his fingers in the shape of a pistol and imitated the police who fired," the court documents say.
The police pulled out a Taser but it did not have the desired effect.
The defendant encouraged officers to use it, but was refused.
Instead, he was subjected to pepper spray.
Judge Rollo said the protracted incident was at the gravest end of the scale for such crimes.
An eight-month prison sentence, as suggested by the defense, would see Tuwairua be released on time.
But the judge said that was inappropriate.
The defendant was found guilty of threatening to kill, intentionally injuring and aggravated driving while suspended.
He was also banned from driving for a year.
