Man who pulled gun at pub imprisoned

A young man who brandished a pistol at a bar after getting into a physical fight has been imprisoned for 12 months.

Te Harawira Irimana, 21, received the sentence in Ōpōtiki District Court last week on charges of presenting a firearm, assault with a blunt instrument, injuring with intent to injure, disorderly behaviour, common assault and breaching community work.

Judge Louis Bidois said there was a disagreement at a party the defendant was attending at the bar.

A co-offender jumped on the victim, pinning him to the ground, at which point Irimana kicked him in the head with “full force”.

The victim was able to get away and the offenders were kicked out of the bar. As he was being escorted out, Irimana threw a chair, which hit the victim.

He then went to his vehicle and retrieved a pistol, which he brandished before the bar’s patrons.

A pre-sentence report assessed Irimana as being at low risk of reoffending and of medium risk to others.

A sentence of intensive supervision and community work was recommended, but Judge Bidois said the defendant had previously received a similar sentence, which did not deter him from committing the offences currently before the court.

He was sentenced to 10 months’ prison for the offending, and an additional two months to account for remitted fines.

Irimana will be subject to six months of release conditions.

Coastguard arsonist granted home detention

The person who deliberately lit three fires in Ōpōtiki, causing $31,000 worth of damage to the Coastguard building and a HEB-owned digger has been sentenced to five months’ home detention.

Shannon William Poata Stevens, also known as Poata Stevens, was sentenced last week for three counts of arson, and an unrelated theft charge.

The 37-year-old, who identifies as female, previously pleaded guilty to the charges and has been in custody since her arrest on May 19.

The court heard that the defendant went to the Ōpōtiki wharf the night before her arrest and damaged a security camera before using a lighter to set some material on fire, which was dropped into a skip bin belonging to Heb Construction.

Stevens then got into a Yanmar digger also belonging to Heb and set rubbish on fire inside it, then set her sights on the Coastguard building, where she lit books on fire.

Crown prosecutor Laura Clay said the defendant attempted twice to set the building on fire, because the first one did not take.

She said the Crown acknowledged Stevens had experienced some trouble in her childhood, but that there was no nexus between it and her offending.

The prosecutor said Stevens had made little meaningful effort to show remorse, except for writing a short letter of apology.

Judge Bidois said Stevens’ offending came with a $31,000 reparation bill.

He said the defendant aspired to work as a beautician, or in the fashion or performing arts industries.

The judge set a sentence starting point of two-and-a-half years’ prison and reduced it by 10 months for Stevens’ guilty plea, remorse and mental health at the time of the offending.

The sentence was further reduced by 10 months to account for the time the defendant spent in custody.

Judge Bidois commuted the sentence to five months’ home detention with six months of post-detention conditions.

For the unrelated theft charge, Stevens was ordered to pay $400 in reparations.

Young driver breaks woman’s ribs

Ōpōtiki 18-year-old Arthur Hata has been imprisoned for multiple driving charges across several months this year, including an incident that left an elderly woman with broken bones.

Hata appeared by audio-visual link from custody, where he is being held on unrelated charges.

He was sentenced on charges of driving dangerously, driving dangerously causing injury, careless driving, intentional damage by doing wheelies, and failing to stop when followed by police.

Judge Bidois said the 81-year-old victim of one charge was left with broken ribs and a broken right ankle, making her “extremely uncomfortable”.

The judge said a community-based sentence was originally recommended for Hata due to his young age, but because he was being held in custody on other charges, prison was inevitable.

Hata was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, with leave for substitution of a home-based sentence refused.

He was disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Nominal date set

Ōpōtiki labourer Sam Troy Stansbury has been further remanded in custody until a nominal date in December, when court staff will attempt to schedule a judge-alone trial.

Stansbury, 33, pleaded not guilty to a new charge of discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He has previously pleaded not guilty to charges of threatening to kill or cause grievous bodily harm, unlawful possession of a firearm, recklessly discharging a firearm and two counts of presenting a firearm.

It was estimated a trial would take one full day. A nominal appearance was scheduled for December 12.

Stansbury also had a sentencing hearing scheduled at Rotorua District Court in February for an unrelated charge of assault with intent to rob.

Defence lawyer Leonard Hemi requested the sentencing for the admitted charge be adjourned until after a trial had been held on the charges denied by the defendant, but Judge Bidois said because the charges were unrelated, the sentencing could go ahead.

Charges denied

Ōpōtiki man George Mahue Ngamoki has pleaded not guilty to charges of wilful trespass, breaching release conditions, threatening to kill, assault with a blunt instrument, assault on a person in a family relationship and breaching a protection order.

The 34-year-old was remanded in custody until a case review hearing in January.

Tobacco theft admitted

Ōpōtiki woman Shannon Christina Helmbright has admitted stealing $145 of tobacco from a local petrol station.

Helmbright, 34, told the judge through a duty lawyer that she was pressured by females at the skatepark to get them tobacco.

She said she was prepared to pay back the value over time.

The court heard that Helmbright had a lengthy offending history, but this was her first offence in two years.

She was sentenced to 80 hours’ community work and was ordered to pay back $145.90.

New case review hearing set

A new case review hearing has been scheduled to allow discussions between police prosecutors and Shane Malcolm Cairns’ defence lawyer to occur.

Cairns has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault with a blunt instrument, two counts of assault on a person in a family relationship and threatening behaviour.

He was remanded to February 20.

Nominal date for hearing

A two-hour trial was unable to be scheduled last week for Kenneth Alistair Winder to defend himself against three charges.

Winder has denied failing to stop or ascertain injury after a crash, careless driving and assault on a person in a family relationship.

He was remanded to December 12 for a nominal hearing, at which point court staff will attempt again to schedule a judge-alone trial.

Suspended sentence for community work breach

Te Kaha man Mana Matchitt has been ordered to come up if called upon for six months after he failed to make progress on his 350-hour community work sentence.

Matchitt was brought to court after completing only six-and-a-half hours from his sentence.

The judge heard that he was now being supported by Te Whānau ā Apanui Justice Programme and has expressed an interest in a civil engineering course.

Matchitt also denied a charge of wilful damage last week, laid in Rotorua District Court.

He was remanded to appear in Rotorua in December.

Charges amended, admitted

First-time offender Tui Terina Maxwell-Hayes has admitted a raft of charges after they were resolved through case review discussions.

She pleaded guilty to amended charges of assault with intent to injure (previously injuring with intent to injure), carrying an imitation firearm (previously unlawful possession of a pistol), careless driving (previously reckless driving), and other charges of common assault and possession of a pipe for cannabis.

A charge of wilful damage and a second count of common assault were withdrawn by police.

Maxwell-Hayes, 26, had already pleaded guilty at a previous appearance to a charge of assault with a blunt instrument, a steel chair.

She was remanded for sentencing on December 12.

Charges admitted, community work imposed

Ōpōtiki man Tutohia Huriwaka was sentenced to 160 hours’ community work last week after he pleaded guilty to three charges relating to mid-last year.

Huriwaka, 25, admitted intentionally damaging a house on Richard Street, Ōpōtiki, assault on a person in a family relationship and assaulting a child.

A charge of trespass was withdrawn.

The court heard Huriwaka was now employed on fishing boats with a local company, and had aspirations of being transferred to another boat that did longer haul trips at sea, but his bail curfew was restricting him from doing so.

Judge Bidois said the defendant’s actions gave the impression that he thought the victim was his property.

“If you want a reputation as a wife beater, carry on, but you’ll end up in jail,” he said.

Huriwaka was sentenced to 160 hours’ of community work and was ordered to pay $350 in emotional harm reparations and $310 in reparations.