Paralysed but jail his preferred sentence
A man sentenced to home detention because he was left paralysed after being shot by police says he would rather still have the use of his legs and be serving time in prison.
David Andrew Taite, 49, was sentenced at the Napier District Court yesterday for threatening to kill the two police officers involved in the shooting.
Taite's defence lawyer Eric Forster asked for leniency in his client's sentence due to the fact he was now disabled. He said imprisonment would have been a "severe" sentence, adding Taite had extended his apologies to the police officer who shot him.
Judge Brooke Gibson said he would give the wheelchair-bound Taite some credit for his current circumstances, including the fact he was paralysed.
After sentencing, Taite told Hawke's Bay Today he thought he was lucky with the outcome.
"I'm quite lucky, aren't I? If my legs were all right, I'd be doing some jail time ... I'd sooner go to jail for what I've done and be able to walk."
His pain would continue long after the sentence ended, he said.
"I thought it's all right but I've still got to go through all my pain that I go through and when HD [home detention] is finished, I'll still be going through pain.
