Staff Reporter
Matahi man Hemi Kohi Junior Te Pairi has been imprisoned for growing 74 cannabis plants with an estimated yield of $74,000.
The sentence came after Te Pairi, 44, changed his plea to guilty in Whakatāne District Court on Wednesday after receiving a sentence indication of two years’ imprisonment.
Judge Louis Bidois said Te Pairi was a father of six, employed as a forklift driver, and had been described as an involved member of his marae.
He said the defendant’s offending was a commercial operation.
Te Pairi previously told the court he grew the plants for rongoa (medicine).
He was sentenced to two years’ prison and six months of release conditions.
Leave was granted for Te Pairi to apply for the sentence to be substituted to home detention if he could supply a suitable address.
Other court appearances:
Meth dealer admits offending
A Whakatāne drug dealer has admitted being in possession of 34 grams of methamphetamine after being busted in January.
Peter Ford, 56, pleaded guilty at Whakatāne District Court on Wednesday to possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of supply, cultivating cannabis and possession of cannabis.
Crown prosecutor Tobias Taane said charges of possession of morphine and possession of equipment for cultivation of cannabis would be withdrawn at sentencing.
Ford was originally charged with possession of cannabis for supply, but it was amended down to a charge of possession.
At an earlier court appearance, the Crown said there was a high level of commerciality in Ford’s offending.
He had CCTV and facial recognition technology at his address, and police found him with five cellphones, pre-made and new point bags.
Ford has been in custody since his arrest and was further remanded in custody to September for sentencing.
Rifle found in car footwell
An Otakiri man who assaulted two police officers who found a rifle in his footwell when they pulled him over for driving while forbidden on Saturday, has been imprisoned.
Steven Thomas Crown, 37, appeared before Judge Louis Bidois on Wednesday on charges of resisting police, being an unlicensed driver who failed to comply, unlawfully possessing a firearm, two counts of assaulting police and an unrelated, earlier, charge of shoplifting $85 worth of cigarettes from Te Teko Superette.
He pleaded guilty to all the charges after receiving a sentence indication from the judge.
Police withdrew a charge of possession of cannabis after the defendant admitted the others.
Crown was sentenced to 27 months’ prison and ordered to pay $85 in reparations. An order for forfeiture of the Lee Enfield 303 rifle was issued by the judge.
No time for trial
Efforts to schedule a three-day judge-alone trial for Rawiri Makaarini Brooking were unsuccessful this week.
Brooking appeared by audio-visual link from custody on Wednesday, having pleaded not guilty to three counts of committing a dangerous act with intent to injure, two counts each of unlawful possession of a firearm and attempting to pervert the course of justice, and one charge of kidnapping.
The hearing was a nominal one for court staff to attempt to schedule the trial. There was no room in the court calendar for it, so Brooking was remanded to August for another nominal hearing.
Prison on eight charges
A man convicted of eight charges has been imprisoned for 18 months.
Jordan Karl Mutton received the sentence for charges of driving with excess breath alcohol, possession of an offensive weapon, common assault, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a knife in a public place, and two counts each of driving while disqualified and driving contrary to an interlock licence.
Some of the offending was committed while he was on bail, and the judge acknowledged a link to an addiction.
In addition to the 18-month prison sentence, Mutton was disqualified from driving for four years and will be subject to six months’ release conditions.
Interlock for drink driver
A woman who admitted driving with a breath alcohol level of 722 micrograms per litre of breath has been sentenced for her third conviction of driving with excess breath alcohol.
Dorothy Larissa Raina was last convicted of drink driving in 2022, which triggered a part of the law that required her to be subject to an alcohol interlock device.
She was sentenced to 140 hours’ community work, nine months’ supervision and disqualified from driving for 28 days.
At the end of her disqualification, Raina will be subject to an alcohol interlock licence.
Bail denied
An application by Manu Apanui Gavigan to be released from custody on bail was declined this week by Judge Bidois.
Gavigan previously pleaded not guilty to charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, contravening a protection order, speaking threateningly, wilful damage and two counts of theft, and elected trial by jury.
He has since been charged with a second count of contravening a protection order, wilful damage and theft from a car, which he has not pleaded to.
The defendant was remanded in custody until a case review hearing this month in Ōpōtiki.
By then, he is expected to have a new lawyer assigned to him through legal aid, because his counsel is preparing for a trial starting next month.
Charges denied
Papa Te Wiki Heke has pleaded not guilty to charges of threatening to kill, possession of an offensive weapon and assault with intent to injure.
He was granted bail to an address outside of the Eastern Bay of Plenty until a case review hearing in September.
Further remand granted
Another case review hearing has been scheduled for Pounamu Kinghazel, who has denied charges of threatening to kill, behaving threateningly, assaulting a child and breaching release conditions.
He is next due in court in September.
Prison for three charges
Ōpōtiki labourer Sam Troy Stansbury has been sentenced to four months in prison for three charges.
Stansbury, 32, had been remanded in custody on 10 charges when Judge Bidois decided to sentence him on the ones he had admitted.
For breaching a home detention sentence, which has since been completed, the defendant was sentenced to two months’ prison.
He received another month for stealing a cellphone from a car and breaching community work, which he has also since completed.
Stansbury was convicted and discharged without penalty for failing to answer bail.
He was remanded to September for a case review hearing at Rotorua on a charge of assault with intent to rob and is next due in Ōpōtiki District Court in October for a case review hearing on charges of threatening to kill, unlawful possession of a firearm, recklessly discharging a firearm and two counts of presenting a firearm.
Readmitted to bail
Arthur Toman has been readmitted to bail to an address outside of the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
He faces charges of speaking threateningly, resisting a court security officer, driving while disqualified, failing to answer bail, strangulation, assault of a child, assault on a person in a family relationship, threatening to kill, and receiving stolen property.
He was remanded on bail to reappear in Whakatāne next month.
Remand in custody
Judge Bidois denied a bail application by Matahi man Eddie George Ashford, who is facing five violence charges.
Ashford, 35, has been charged with driving while disqualified, two counts each of strangulation and assault on a person in a family relationship, and one charge of threatening to kill.
He was remanded in custody to his next hearing in two weeks.
Not guilty pleas
Robert Heke has pleaded not guilty to three charges.
He is next due in court at the end of next month on one charge of intentional damage and two counts of possession of an offensive weapon.
Community work sentence
A man who has pleaded guilty to three charges, and not guilty to two others, has been sentenced to community work.
Jon-Lee Mason was sentenced to 120 hours’ community work for charges of speaking threateningly, behaving threateningly and assault on a person in a family relationship.
He must pay $300 in emotional harm reparation to the victim of the assault.
Mason was remanded to September for a case review hearing on charges of assault with intent to injure and strangulation, which he has denied.