Manu Hausia has been returned to Tonga after being granted parole, three and a half years before his sentence was due to expire.
Hausia was jailed for six years and six months in 2023 following a violent attack on his partner in Oamaru, Christchurch, New Zealand.
He pleaded guilty to four charges: attempted murder, injuring and wounding with intent, and assaulting a child.
The then 28-year-old man’s sentence was reduced due to several factors, including guilty pleas, difficulties serving time in a foreign country, and his previously good character.
At the time, Kaniva News and other New Zealand media reported that Hausia stabbed his partner in front of her young son, who called the police.
Justice Rob Osborne described the victim’s injuries as severe: nine stab wounds to her back, three to her face—including one that pierced her cheek—two to the back of her head, and another to her shoulder.
She also suffered cuts to her hand, bruising to her face, jaw, and neck consistent with strangulation, significant blood loss, and damage to her salivary glands, which affected her ability to swallow, speak, and eat.
The judge noted at the time that Hausia would likely be deported at the end of his sentence.
At the time of the attack, Hausia was in New Zealand on an interim visitor visa extended due to Covid restrictions, which had stranded him in the country.
According to the summary of facts, Hausia met the victim at a rugby game in Auckland at the beginning of the year.
They commenced a relationship and moved in together in the victim’s home in Oamaru soon after.
