By Joseph Nathan, Staff Writer
An Invercargill man, Duane Leslie Twiss (45), was sentenced to seven months’ home detention on January 15, 2025, after assaulting his former partner in March 2024 and subsequently harassing her while on bail.
The incident occurred on March 16, 2024, when Twiss returned home intoxicated and became enraged after misplacing his phone and car keys. He destroyed the victim’s headphones and, upon her threat to call the police, punched her in the right eye, causing a fractured orbital wall.
While on bail in June 2024, Twiss violated a protection order by contacting the victim twice, threatening to involve a gang member to retrieve belongings and harm her son.
Judge Mark Williams, presiding over the Invercargill District Court, noted this was Twiss’s second family violence offense in recent years, following a 2020 imprisonment for assaulting a different woman. A report indicated Twiss exhibits a high level of entitlement leading to violence in relationships.
Defense counsel Jono Ross highlighted that Twiss had effectively been under house arrest due to strict bail conditions since his initial incarceration.
In addition to the home detention sentence, Twiss is required to undergo counseling and is prohibited from contacting the victim.
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