Name suppression has been lifted by a New Zealand court on a man who has been jailed for 20 years after repeatedly drugging his wife and recording himself raping and sexually abusing her.
In the High Court at Hamilton on Friday name suppression was lifted on Neil Graham Pitceathly, after his now former wife waived the statutory suppression of any details leading to her identification, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
Pitceathly, 66, was jailed for a total of 20 years, with a minimum non-parole period of seven years and nine months, on 212 charges - 60 of stupefication, 74 of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, 17 of rape and 61 of possessing intimate visual recordings without reasonable excuse.
Most charges related to offending from 1999 to the end of 2003 or start of 2004, when Pitceathly and his wife lived on an orchard in Katikati.
Pitceathly stupefied his wife with sleeping pills and home-made alcohol from a still. He then raped and sexually violated her, using a variety of objects.
He took photographs and stored them on his computer.
The recordings were only uncovered after Pitceathly's wife arranged for a computer technician to bypass the security systems on the computer, so she could search for evidence of an affair she believed he was having.
Crown prosecutor Rob Ronayne said the "prolonged and serious" offending could be considered "among the worst cases of its type"
Defence counsel Susan Hughes QC maintained Pitceathly's offending had occurred over only a dozen to 15 episodes, and while she accepted a prison sentence was inevitable, she urged Justice Paul Heath to avoid imposing a minimum non-parole period.
She said the sex acts had to be put in context - Pitceathly's wife was not physically hurt by the acts, and had no memory of them.
Justice Heath said in the context of a marriage, Pitceathly's actions were a huge breach of trust.
"It is difficult to comprehend a much more serious abuse of trust."
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