But this isn’t your typical courtroom drama – it’s a high-stakes battle to keep the community safe from a man who’s turned vengeance into his life’s mission.
After serving a hefty sentence for a cocktail of crimes including kidnapping, indecent assault, and dabbling in the dangerous world of firearms and meth, Stephenson’s out, but not without catching the vigilant eye of Corrections. The department is pulling out all the stops, seeking a heavy-duty Extended Supervision Order (ESO) to shackle his potential for future terror.
The scene of his most chilling crime? Holding a gun to a woman’s head and blasting the windscreen, all because she clung to her silence about his courtroom adversaries.
His reign of terror didn’t stop there, unleashing hours of threats and assault before his twisted version of mercy set her free.
Now, as freedom rings for Stephenson, the Department of Corrections, led by its lawyer Amy Alcock, is making a bold move in the High Court at Hamilton. Their weapon of choice is a five-year ESO to curb the menace lurking within Stephenson, whose unpredictable nature spells a ticking time bomb of violence waiting to explode, they argue.
Despite the heavy dossier of dark deeds and a criminal rap sheet that reads like a horror story, Stephenson’s defense swings back hard, arguing his cocktail of medical issues and untreated head injuries make him less of a villain and more of a victim of circumstance, one who’s supposedly turned a new leaf with a suite of prison-taught lessons in violence management and drug rehabilitation.
But revelations surfaced about Stephenson’s use of meth to battle his demons, casting a long shadow over his so-called rehabilitation. With a history of ruminating over perceived slights and a track record of violent retaliation, the courtroom is left to make a decision in the next few days on the man’s future.
