Bail for man accused of damaging Kawerau police station

A man charged with damaging Kawerau police station while armed with a pickaxe last week has appeared in Whakatāne District Court.

The 30-year-old Kawerau man faces charges of intentional damage and possession of an offensive weapon from his alleged behaviour on Friday.

He also faces three counts of assaulting police and one of resisting police from the following day.

The man is also charged with wilful damage of Kawerau police station’s sign on March 28.

Judge Bidois heard from an in-court forensic nurse that he suspected there were mental health issues at play.

The defendant was granted bail to a family member’s address with conditions not to possess weapons, not to offer violence, and to attend community mental health services.

He was scheduled to return to court at the end of next month.

Drink driver back in prison

A repeat drink driver who breached her home detention conditions has been returned to prison.

Esther Peratiaki, 58, was sentenced in February for her 10^thdrink driving conviction.

She served just shy of two months of her nine-month home detention sentence before being taken into police custody on March 28 for a breach.

Peratiaki pleaded guilty to the breach this week.

Judge Bidois converted the remaining home detention sentence into a prison term of 14 months, with six months of release conditions.

An additional month was added to the prison sentence, for a total of 15 months, as penalty for breaching home detention.

Leave was granted for Peratiaki to reapply for home detention.

Supervision for man who broke in for a sleep

A young man who broke into his former residence to have a sleep has been given a rehabilitative sentence.

Shelby Kurei, 21, was deemed mentally fit to participate in the court process after multiple mental health reports. He had been in custody for three months during the process.

He pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and trespass, and accepted responsibility for his actions, but defence lawyer Robert Savage sought a remand to allow him to discuss the level of the charge with police.

Mr Savage said he did not think the burglary charge was representative of his client’s intent.

Judge Bidois said the offending fit the criteria for a low-level burglary and raised that a further remand to allow discussions with police would mean Kurei remained in custody longer.

The judge sentenced Kurei to 12 months’ supervision.

Teacher faces additional charges

Interim name suppression has been extended for an Eastern Bay teacher who faces four new fraud charges.

The woman denied all charges against her, including forgery, obtaining by deception, using a forged document, three counts of miscellaneous fraud and four counts of using a document for pecuniary advantage.

Recently assigned defence lawyer Robert Savage applied for interim name suppression on the basis of extreme hardship and raised personal factors with the court.

He said she was currently employed as a teacher. The principal of the school where she works was present in court and Mr Savage said the board of trustees was aware of, and keeping a close eye on, the charges.

Judge Bidois granted name suppression but noted he did so more for the sake of the school than for the defendant.

The woman was remanded to July 9 for a case review hearing.

Bail denied

Te Teko man Ravdeep Sodhi has been remanded in custody after fresh charges were laid against him.

Sodhi, 31, pleaded not guilty to charges of assault on a person in a family relationship, injuring with intent to injure and threatening to kill.

He sought bail to a Tauranga address. The application was denied.

Sodhi is next due in court at the end of next month for a pre-trial hearing on Crown prosecution charges in Tauranga.

He was remanded in custody to a case review hearing in Whakatāne on June 25.

Victim kicked in face, baby caught in crossfire

Joshua Allen pleaded guilty from custody to charges of assault on a person in a family relationship and assaulting a child.

Judge Bidois said there was an argument between Allen and the victim before he kicked her in the face, causing her to have a cut and bruised lip.

The victim was holding their six-month-old baby at the time.

Judge Bidois sentenced him to 12 months’ supervision.

Defendant tries to keep licence

A woman who has admitted driving dangerously has been told she must complete a defensive driving course to keep her licence.

The judge heard Dereena Peri had a significant brain injury and suffered from poor impulse control as a result.

Judge Bidois said the defendant drove towards the victim at speed of between 50kmh and 60kmh.

He said his views on driving charges were concrete, but if Peri completed a defensive driving course, he would grant her an application under section 94 of the Land Transport Act which would allow her to keep her driver’s licence.

If Peri did not complete the course by her next appearance, she would be disqualified from driving for six months.

She was remanded to June 25 for sentencing.

Charges denied

Jayden Brown has denied two breaches of a protection order and driving dangerously.

He was remanded to a case review hearing on June 25.

No discretion to prevent forfeiture

Whakatāne man Ngaromate Taipeti has been ordered to forfeit a pair of shorts under the Gangs Act, despite claims they were memorial shorts.

Taipeti was jailed for six months and two weeks for resisting police, possessing cannabis, disorderly behaviour, possession of an offensive weapon and prohibited display of gang insignia.

Judge Bidois said Taipeti was arrested in the morning and released, then arrested again in the afternoon when he was seen with a switchblade pocketknife on Patterson Place.

Defence lawyer Leonard Hemi submitted that the shorts Taipeti was seen wearing were a memorial and sought that the judge did not order forfeiture.

Judge Bidois said he did not have any discretion under the law and the forfeiture order was mandatory.

He ordered Taipeti forfeit the shorts and the knife. At the conclusion of his prison sentence, the defendant will be subject to six months of release conditions.

Further remand

Another case review hearing has been scheduled for Kuraniniwa Tihi, who has denied two counts of assaulting police.

Her lawyer said he had received video footage and needed to show it to the defendant.

Tihi was remanded to June 27.

No pleas to new charges

Bail was declined this week for Paul Hislop, who has been charged with possessing an objectionable publication, making an intimate visual recording and two counts of breaching his extended supervision order.

He was remanded without plea until May 16.

Mixed pleas

Matthew Woodman has pleaded guilty to assaulting a child, but not guilty to multiple other charges.

The denied matters include two counts each of breaching a protection order and assault on a person in a family relationship.

He was remanded to June 27 for a case review hearing.

Sentencing delayed by new charges

Whakatāne woman Marama Nahi has had her sentencing delayed by two months after fresh charges were laid on the eve of her hearing.

Nahi, 30, was due to be sentenced yesterday for driving at a dangerous speed, theft, breaching her community work, possession of an offensive weapon and disorderly behaviour.

The sentencing was delayed after occupants of her proposed home detention address withdrew their consent yesterday morning.

Nahi pleaded not guilty to charges of assault on a person in a family relationship and speaks threateningly, alleged to have occurred on Tuesday night.

Judge Bidois said this was her final chance to secure an address.

He readmitted Nahi to bail, to a different address, with a combined sentencing and case review hearing scheduled for June 27.

Slug gun pointed at victim

Santana Atkins has been sentenced to community work and supervision for presenting a slug gun at a victim, among other charges.

Yesterday, she admitted the charge along with threatening to cause grievous bodily harm, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a knife and shoplifting.

Police withdrew a charge of possession of a utensil for using meth.

The court heard Atkins acted in response to the victim.

Judge Bidois said the victim had his son with him and questioned what he might have done to provoke such a reaction.

Defence lawyer Leonard Hemi said the victim had been in custody himself at the time that Atkins was released on bail last month.

The judge noted Atkins had not been before the courts for 10 years and sentenced her to 140 hours of community work and 12 months’ supervision.

She must forfeit the gun and knife. Reparations totalling $185, representing a half share of the groceries stolen, was ordered on the shoplifting charge.

Bail granted for woman accused of intentional damage

A woman charged with intentional damage after a run in with a regional council employee has been readmitted to bail.

Melanie Hargreaves, 52, entered no plea to the charge when she appeared in Whakatāne District Court yesterday.

She also faces a charge of criminal harassment.

Court documents stated Hargreaves damaged the notebook of a Bay of Plenty Regional Council enforcement officer with the intent to cause loss.

She was remanded on bail to reappear in Ōpōtiki District Court on May 1.