Strangulation punished with prison

A man who struck a family member in the face and then strangled her has been sentenced to prison.

The offending came less than two months after Maveric Abraham Te Aute Paul, 25, was sentenced for assaulting the same victim.

For the earlier convictions, Paul was sentenced to supervision. The court heard that it had not kicked in before he offended on November 8.

Defence lawyer Jonathan Kay said the defendant was remorseful and had completed courses while in custody.

Judge Louis Bidois said the strangulation lasted a short time and the victim did not lose consciousness, but it was preceded by the defendant striking her in the face in their family home.

He acknowledged an explanation that Paul’s behaviour was the result of not dealing with grief.

A pre-sentence report recommended Paul be sent to prison, because there was no home detention address available.

Paul was sentenced to 16 months’ prison with six months’ release conditions. He was granted leave to apply for home detention if an address became available.

Accused burglar to take case to jury

One of the men accused of the aggravated burglary of Michael Hill Whakatāne is taking his case to a jury trial.

Aucklander Reuben Matkovich maintained his not guilty plea in court on Wednesday, and his lawyer signalled the intention to go to jury trial.

He was remanded in custody to a jury call over in the Tauranga District Court on January 23.

Two other men charged with the aggravated burglary of Michael Hill pleaded guilty this week.

Both Haki Hall of Rūātoki and Adrian Buchanan of Auckland were remanded to March 13 for sentencing.

Buchanan faces a fresh charge of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, dated from the day before the burglary, but laid by police only recently. He has entered no plea to the charge.

Name suppression appeal possible

A woman charged under Operation Highwater with possessing methamphetamine for the purpose of supply, is seeking interim name suppression on the basis that being named may affect her employment at an Eastern Bay school.

The woman appeared on the charge for the first time on Wednesday and has applied for legal aid. She has not entered a plea.

Duty lawyer Leonard Hemi applied for interim name suppression until the woman’s next appearance at the end of January, by which time a formal application could be made by her assigned lawyer.

He said the defendant worked at a school and aspired to go to university to further her career in the field, but having her name associated with the charge could affect her current and future work.

Judge Bidois said the woman’s employer deserved to know what she had been charged with. He declined the application.

Mr Hemi signalled an intention to appeal the decision, triggering a 20-day abeyance on publishing the defendant’s name.

Four months to find $150k

Convicted fraudster Matthew Robert John Black has been given four months to obtain $150,000 to pay his victims back in full, for a hope of staying out of jail.

Black was due to be sentenced this week for the multiple frauds, including 11 counts of obtaining by deception, theft by a person in a special relationship, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, converting a motor vehicle, driving with excess breath alcohol and breaching community work.

Lawyer Kylee O’Connor requested more time for Black to gather the money, relaying the message that he expected to have it by March.

She said he had saved $130,000 in October, but he had to use it for work he was doing building houses down the coast and, as a result, had no cash available for reparations.

Judge Bidois questioned why he should allow the defendant another chance to scrape the money together.

“He ripped off other people, so we should rip Christmas off him.”

The judge granted a final adjournment to April 9.

Home for Christmas

A man remanded in custody for a month on three charges has been released from prison on a sentence of community work.

Phillip Purewa, 41, pleaded guilty this week to possession of an offensive weapon, possession of utensils for meth, and an amended charge of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle.

Police withdrew a burglary charge.

The court heard that Purewa entered a property and took a vehicle, ripping out the ignition in the process.

Judge Bidois said taking the vehicle took away the independence of the victims.

He was sentenced to 160 hours’ community work and $400 in reparations. Purewa was ordered to forfeit the weapon.

Animal cruelty admitted

Hudson Te Ahoroa Robert Huia Scott-McCauley has admitted a charge of cruelty or ill-treatment of animals for his actions towards a dog.

Two reports into his mental state found that Scott-McCauley was fit to plead with no issues regarding insanity, with the recommendation that the court process continue.

He was sentenced to 12 months’ supervision and ordered to pay emotional harm reparation of $500.

Bail granted

Bail has been granted for Jessie Thornton Peck, who has denied a raft of charges.

Peck has denied charges of assault on a person in a family relationship, common assault, wilful trespass, behaving threateningly, resisting police, burglary, possession of utensils for methamphetamine and using a phone for fictional purposes.

Police opposed his bail application, which was approved by Judge Bidois to an address in the South Island.

He was remanded to reappear in February.

Ōpōtiki charges denied

Shannon Elvis Costello Pene has pleaded not guilty to two assaults and been remanded to reappear in Ōpōtiki.

Pene denied assault on a person in a family relationship and assault with intent to injure.

He was remanded to appear on January 23 in the Ōpōtiki court.

Sentencing has immigration implications

An overstayer who deliberately committed arson and intentional damage to get sent home, may be sentenced today.

Ode Uopdana pleaded guilty to the charges on Wednesday.

Defence lawyer Steve Franklin said Immigration New Zealand was waiting to see the outcome of the court process and would send Uopdana home at the end of any sentence.

The sentence is expected to be one of imprisonment because the defendant does not have the right to be in New Zealand any longer, so Immigration NZ would not like to see him released from prison on a sentence or on bail.

Uopdana has been in custody for two weeks.

He was remanded to today to allow the judge to consider the appropriate length of a sentence, balancing the usage of this country’s resources and the amount of time required to secure him a flight home.

Driving charges admitted

Whakatāne man Norman Macinnes pleaded guilty this week to three driving charges.

He has now admitted refusing an officer’s request for blood, refusing to produce his ID for police and driving while disqualified. They were his fifth convictions for each charge.

Macinnes was remanded for sentencing at the end of January.

Drink driving denied

Sukhwinder Singh has pleaded not guilty to drink driving and two counts of driving while disqualified.

He was remanded to February for a case review hearing.

Sentencing scheduled

Rūātoki man Tamahou Adam Davis is expected to be sentenced next week on assault and drug possession charges.

Davis, 25, has pleaded guilty to assault by striking a person with a beer bottle, common assault, possession of methamphetamine and breaching bail.

He pleaded not guilty this week to a second charge of common assault and has not pleaded to a new charge of failing to stop for red and blue flashing lights.

Defence lawyer Rebecca Plunket said Davis had come to understand that alcohol could not be blamed, but it was a trigger for his behaviour.

The matter was remanded to Thursday for sentencing.

Trial to be set

Whakatāne musician Clement Makamaka was back in the court cells this week on an accusation that he breached his bail within half an hour of being released after his last court appearance.

Makamaka has denied charges of assault with a blunt instrument, common assault, speaking threateningly, two counts of behaving threateningly and three counts of disorderly behaviour.

Judge Bidois heard that Makamaka wanted his day in court and remanded him to today to see if a judge alone trial date in March would be suitable for police witnesses.

Makamaka was released on bail.

Interlock licence cancelled

Teruha Matthews was sentenced this week to community work for a series of driving convictions, with the multiple charges arising from his decision not to get an alcohol interlock device fitted to his vehicle.

Matthews was sentenced for driving contrary to the conditions of his alcohol interlock licence, failing to remain stopped for police and escaping from police custody.

Judge Bidois described Matthews as having “a pretty arrogant approach” to the situation.

Defence lawyer Kylee O’Connor said when the defendant was sentenced to the alcohol interlock in 2016, the courts told him it would be free.

But when he went to get it fitted, he was asked to pay $1400, which he could not afford.

Ms O’Connor said Matthews thought the interlock condition would lapse with time but now realised  it did not.

Judge Bidois sentenced Matthews to 200 hours’ community work and invoked Section 94 of the Land Transport Act to avoid disqualifying him further.

In place of a disqualification, Matthews was sentenced to six months’ supervision.

His interlock licence was cancelled and replaced with a 12 month and one day disqualification, backdated to the time of his original offending in 2016.

That disqualification meant Matthews was now unlicensed and would need to apply for it to be reinstated.

Meth possession denied

Kawerau woman Louise Kataraina Paget, 42, pleaded not guilty to a charge of possessing methamphetamine.

She has been remanded in custody on multiple drug charges, including supplying meth, possession of meth for supply and supplying cannabis, none of which she has pleaded to.

Paget pleaded guilty to breaching a community work sentence, which Judge Bidois cancelled and, given her status in custody, sentenced her to one month’s prison.

She was remanded to the new year for plea.

Trial date set

Manu Winstone Corey Savage is expected to stand trial in January on a charge of burglary.

Police withdrew a second burglary charge.

Sentencing scheduled

A sentencing date in March has been scheduled for Redmond Eruera Huirua.

He pleaded guilty to charges of breaching supervision and community work, to join a burglary charge he had previously admitted.

Judge Bidois ordered a pre-sentence report and remanded Huirua on bail until sentencing.

Home detention deferred to allow family time

Mark Tane Morgan was sentenced to five months’ home detention on Wednesday, but it will not kick in until today, to allow him to spend time with an unwell family member.

The 39-year-old received the sentence for charges of unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition, after he was found in a vehicle with a sawn-off shotgun.

The court heard that Morgan had been engaged with the Grace Foundation in Auckland for six months, where he has been addressing his drug addiction issues.

Defence lawyer Leonard Hemi said more time in the programme would allow Morgan more of a chance to turn his life around for the better.

Judge Bidois acknowledged that Morgan had an extensive history, and his gang-affiliated lifestyle had caused damage. He said an extended period of sobriety was required to reduce Morgan’s risk of reoffending.

He sentenced Morgan to 10 months’ prison, substituted for five months’ home detention to be served at the Grace Foundation.

A request was made to have the sentence deferred to Monday to allow Morgan to spend the weekend with his unwell father, given that he had been at the residential rehabilitation facility for a lengthy period.

Judge Bidois deferred the sentence to midday today.