The court indicated that the judge also knew the surgeon’s victims and had been in contact with one
The Supreme Court has revealed a Christchurch District Court judge’s relationship with a local eye surgeon who was sentenced to prison for attempted murder in a recent judgment, reported the NZ Herald.
According to the decision, the judge, Jane Farish, was dating Dr Ian William Dallison when he was arrested on 4 August 2022 for assaulting his landlord and the landlord’s wife. The court determined that there was public interest in the case, which extended to Farish knowing the victims and having taken a call from one of them “in the immediate aftermath of the offending”.
The court was told that Dallison had owed the landlord $247,000, of which the rent expense for his eye clinic made up the bulk. The landlord and another man filed an application that resulted in Dallison being declared bankrupt.
Dallison proceeded to his landlord’s house in Lyttelton on the evening of 4 August 2022, where he attempted to shoot and eye-gauge the landlord. The surgeon also hit the landlord’s wife with his pistol, causing a concussion.
In April 2023, Dallison pleaded guilty to the charges against him and was handed a jail term of 6 years and 10 months. Justice Andru Isac presided over a suppression hearing that centred around a suppression order to disallow the release of details about Dallison’s relationship with Farish at the time.
