man who clambered around on the Christchurch Central Police Station roof is heading back into treatment for his on-going substance abuse issues.

Forty-year-old Dean Paul Colledge, a bricklayer, admitted charges of being found without reasonable excuse on the police station, and unlawful possession of a knife, at an appearance in the Christchurch District Court yesterday.

Prosecutor Glenn Henderson said Colledge had entered the police station grounds in St Asaph Street about 10.40pm on June 23, and climbed up a drain pipe and onto the roof. He walked around until challenged by police staff, who then found a knife in the guttering. Colledge was wearing an empty sheath for the knife.

When interviewed, Colledge said he was “protecting my life”.

Defence counsel Gerald Lascelles said Colledge had been in treatment at the St Marks alcohol and drugs treatment centre in Blenheim last year, and had been in Hillmorton Hospital for two weeks since then.

Judge Stephanie Edwards had the case stood down for the Probation Service to find out about treatment options.

She then released him under intensive supervision for nine months for Colledge to stay at a lodge for short term treatment for his “on-going substance abuse issues” until he can be readmitted to the St Marks residential programme in October.

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A woman charged with possession of ammunition and a methamphetamine pipe, and receiving stolen property after a police search of a Bryndwr home three weeks ago has pleaded not guilty and elected jury trial.

Nikita Chela McCausland, 28, entered her pleas before a registrar at the Christchurch District Court today and was remanded on bail to a Crown case review hearing on September 19.

Police allege that on June 22, the date of the search, McCausland was unlawfully in possession of ten .22 calibre rounds, a .45 calibre round, and a .308 rifle projectile.

They have also charged her with possession of a glass pipe for smoking methamphetamine, and receiving a $2000 laptop computer by being reckless about whether it was stolen.

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The Fire Service will get nothing back from 18-year-old Jayvan James Simms for the $40,240 it spent putting out the sand dunes fire he caused at South Shore.

The fire on November 30 involved 60 fire-fighters and took three hours to get under control. It burnt vegetation, caused evacuation of houses nearby, and caused smoke damage.

Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O’Driscoll jailed Simms for two years one month on a long list of charges he had admitted including the arson, but he said there was no prospect of the teenager being able to pay reparation so he made no order.

“You are clearly not able to provide reparation and the victims will have to bear the cost of the loss or damage you have caused,” said the judge.

There was also a bill of $40,000 before the court from the Christchurch City Council for the damage to the vegetation, but Crown prosecutor Emma Henderson said it was only to show the scale of the damage. The vegetation had grown back and no payment was expected.

Simms admitted he had “recklessly” caused the fire by throwing away a lighted cigarette.

He also admitted taking part in the burglary of a pre-school where a laptop computer was stolen, as well as unlawfully taking cars, interfering with them, stealing from them, possessing tools for taking them, and shoplifting.

There were also 41 similar charges that Judge O’Driscoll had ordered transferred from the Youth Court jurisdiction to be dealt with at the same District Court sentencing. Simms has now “graduated” to the adult jurisdiction after his 17th birthday.

Defence counsel Ruth Buddicom said he was still a vulnerable young man, whose offending history had now caught up with him. She said: “He has displayed an admirable degree of realism and acceptance of responsibility.”

Judge O’Driscoll said Simms had been using cannabis since the age of 12 or 13. He had not engaged in rehabilitation that was ordered to deal with alcohol and drug issues, and there was a suggestion in the pre-sentence reports that he had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder that had not been diagnosed or medicated in the past.

“My impression of you is that you are young, immature, naïve, and self-centred,” the judge told Simms. “You live for the moment and give little or no thought for the consequences of your actions on either yourself or on others you offend against.”

He now had a shocking and appalling list of offences at the age of only 18. The judge said he hoped that for Simms’ sake, and the for the community, he would do whatever programmes he could in prison and after his release to address the issues that led to his offending.

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A New Zealand sex offender sent back from Australia after serving jail time has been fined for threatening to burn down the Probation Service’s Christchurch offices.

Jason Mark Gibbons, 31, was also jailed for a month after breaching the new laws to manage returning offenders.

Defence counsel Donald Matthews said the threat had been made when Waller “let his frustrations get the better of him”.

Police told the court that Gibbons had an “extensive criminal history” in Australia and had been deported after serving prison time.

The Probation Service told the court that he had Australian convictions for assault causing bodily harm and indecent treatment of a child aged under 16.

The convictions have made him liable for management under the Returning Officers (Management and Information) Act passed by Parliament last year after Australia began a series of deportations.

He was assessed as being a “returning prisoner” and was made subject to a year of release conditions.

These include living at an approved address, undergoing rehabilitation assessment and treatment, not travelling outside New Zealand without written approval, and not associating with any child under 16 unless under the direct supervision of an approved adult.

He pleaded guilty to charges of failing to report to a probation officer as required, moving out of an approved address, and speaking threateningly.

Police said Gibbons had a meeting with his woman probation officer on June 14.

He told her he had been given a job at a clothing store at a Christchurch shopping mall.

The officer said that was not acceptable and she would be contacting the clothing store.

Gibbons became angry and said: “Nobody will contact my employer. If you contact my employer I will burn down this building.”

He repeated the threat and then left the office.

When the police spoke to him he said he did not mean the threat and it was “just words”.

Mr Matthews said Gibbons had served four-and-a-half years imprisonment and had then been ordered back to New Zealand where he had not been for over 20 years. He had no family, nor any other form of support. He now had approved accommodation available with the Salvation Army.

Judge MacAskill made a final order imposing the special conditions, jailed Gibbons for a month, and ordered fines, costs, and emotional harm reparations totalling $680 for the threatening charge.

Because of the time he has spent in custody on remand, Gibbons will be released immediately.

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File image. © Andrew Bardwell

Pub armed robber Anthony Reihana has been jailed for seven years six months.

The prison term was imposed by Judge Raoul Neave at 47-year-old Reihana’s sentencing in the Christchurch District Court today.

He had pleaded guilty to an armed robbery and an attempted armed robbery charge on June 23, a few days before his jury trial was due to start.

He has been in custody since April 2014 when he was arrested for the two armed incidents.

He admitted the attempted armed robbery of Robbie’s Bar and Bistro in Cranford Street on March 16, 2014, and the robbery of the Brickworks Restaurant and Bar in Centaurus Road, Cashmere, on April 6, 2014.

Police raided and searched three properties in Riccarton, Barrington, and Linwood on April 7, 2014, and arrested three men. One of them was charged with receiving the stolen money, but that charge was dropped, and a robbery charge against one of those arrested was also dropped.

Wesley Winfield Barnett, 43, admitted the armed robbery of the Brickworks and possession of methamphetamine, and was jailed for six years six months on July 30, 2014.

That left only Reihana in custody awaiting his jury trial, and his sentencing today completes all of the prosecutions over the two incidents.

A masked intruder carrying a shotgun confronted a worker at Robbie’s Bar and Bistro while he was closing the bar.

The Brickworks was robbed as it was closing early on a Sunday morning.

Two men entered the closed bar with their faces covered with scarves, and holding firearms, and demanded cash from the three male staff members The staff were forced to lie on the floor and empty the contents of the office safe into a backpack.

During the robbery, the cleaner was pushed in the chest with the firearm, and struck with the butt of the weapon.

The robbers had black duct tape and said they were going to tape-up the victims, but gave up that idea when Barnett could not bite the tape.

Instead, they told the victims to wait five minutes because they would be waiting outside.

The robbers then fled in a vehicle with the money – more than $1000 from the weekend’s takings and poker machine floats.

The two young bar staff and a cleaner were not hurt in the robbery but were to receive counselling from Victim Support.

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Two more indecency charges have been laid against a Christchurch professional man who denied three similar charges at a court appearance last month.

The 61-year-old man has interim suppression of his name and occupation and is next due to appear at a case review hearing – the next step on the way to jury trial – on September 5.

He originally faced charges alleging indecent assaults on three male clients.

The new charges referred to at an appearance before Justice Rachel Dunningham in the High Court at Christchurch today, allege indecent assaults on two further male clients.

The man was in the High Court to apply for a variation of his bail conditions that would allow him to attend an event in the United States. He would be out of New Zealand for two weeks.

Justice Dunningham heard submissions from defence counsel James Rapley and Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes and then decided that the variation could be granted.

She said the travel to the United States would be allowed, and the man’s passport – which he has had to surrender to the court – would be returned to him at the time of his departure and would have to be returned to the court on the day of his return to New Zealand.

She also imposed a $100,000 cash surety which will be held by the court while he is overseas.

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A man shot in the thigh in a mysterious incident in Christchurch last week has now had an arrest warrant signalled after he failed to turn up at court on his own firearm charges.

The arrest warrant will not be issued until midday on Wednesday for Dean Walter Louis, to give him a chance to get to the Christchurch District Court.

The 30-year-old has denied two charges of unlawfully possessing firearms and obstructing a constable, arising from a police search of his Yaldhurst Road address on April 6.

Police allege they found two rifles at the property, and an 8-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier was “shot and destroyed” on the property when it attacked officers and a police dog.

Louis was meant to appear before Judge Tom Gilbert in court on Tuesday afternoon for a case review hearing on those three charges.

However, defence counsel Anselm Williams told the court he had not been able to contact Louis.

He explained to the judge that Louis had been shot early last week and had ended up in hospital. He had not been able to find out whether Louis was still in hospital.

He had not been able to find him since the shooting but would continue to try ahead of the warrant coming into force on Wednesday. Judge Gilbert issued the warrant, but ordered that it should “lie in court” till then.

Louis was shot at the same Yaldhurst property involved in the police search, and was apparently dropped off at Christchurch Hospital by a friend about 9.30pm on July 14.

Police said at the time that the circumstances around the shooting were unclear, and it is believed no-one has yet been arrested.

Mr Williams said in court that the shooting was “unrelated” to the charges Louis was facing.

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A Christchurch judge has sent an expensive signal to people who get involved with black market seafood.

He imposed a $15,000 fine, four months of community detention, and 100 hours of community work on former restaurateur and present courier driver, Derek Sutton Yee.

Christchurch District Court Judge Tom Gilbert said people who became involved needed to know they would face substantial fines and “deprivation of their liberty in one form or another”.

They would not be allowed to view the penalties as “some form of licensing”, he said.

Yee, 57, will also have forfeit his phone and van which were used in the offending.

He had admitted dealing in black market paua and rock lobster.

Defence counsel Kerry Cook said it was accepted that Yee had offended against the community, and that community work would allow him to give something back to the community. He had fallen on hard times when his restaurant was closed after the Christchurch earthquakes, which had led to him being involved as “a middleman” in the offending.

After the restaurant closed, he became a courier driver and also runs a Chinese food van on Saturday nights.

Judge Gilbert said Yee’s transactions involved a high degree of commercialism involving substantial quantities of fish – 177 kg of paua and 147.5kg of crayfish. He had made a profit of about $12,000.

Black market dealing significantly compromised New Zealand’s ability to manage its fisheries stock to achieve the maximum sustainable yield.

“It costs New Zealand millions of dollars every year. The black market limits the potential growth of the New Zealand rock lobster and paua industries.

“In addition there can be health and safety concerns where food is not handled and processed to approved levels,” said the judge. The offending also impinged on the rights of legitimate commercial and recreational fishers.

A second offender, restaurateur Qui Sheng Ying, 47, was also due to be sentenced but the case had to be delayed to September 30.

The Probation Service had conducted its pre-sentence interview without a Chinese interpreter and Mr Cook said Ying had not understood the question when he had declined his approval for a sentence of community detention.

Judge Gilbert delayed the sentencing to get the community detention assessment done again.

“If he declines that, he’s only going one place,” said Judge Gilbert, indicating that imprisonment would be imposed.

The Fisheries Act offences carry maximum penalties of imprisonment for five years or fines of $500,000.

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A woman will stay in supervised care under the intellectual disability legislation for two years after she was found unfit to stand trial for an Akaroa knife attack.

Christine Tucker, 65, had been charged with wounding another woman with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. A hearing in May found that she had committed the offence but could not stand trial.

The case was remanded for a hearing in the Christchurch District Court yesterday to decide how the case should be disposed of.

An assessment under the Criminal Procedures (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act was done ahead of the latest hearing before Judge Paul Kellar.

After considering the report, he made an order that Tucker should be held in supervised care for two years, which would include implimentation of a series of recommendations made by the psychiatrist.

Judge Kellar said the supervision needed to be sufficient to ensure Tucker’s safety and the safety of others, bearing in mind the offence.

The court had earlier been told that Tucker had no memory of the stabbing which took place in the victim’s Akaroa home about 2.45pm on February 9.

Tucker, who lived nearby, entered the house through a back door and went up behind the victim who was sitting in a chair, and stabbed her with a knife. The victim had courageously disarmed Tucker in the scuffle that followed, Judge Brian Callaghan had commented during the hearing in May.

That hearing considered reports from a clinical psychologist and consultant psychiatrist who reached similar conclusions that Tucker was intellectually disabled and unfit to stand trial.

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A mechanic facing a serious charge over a New Year tourist bus crash on the Otira Gorge has pleaded not guilty and elected trial by jury.

Sixty-eight-year-old James Henry Coakley, of Ohoka, entered his plea before a registrar at the Christchurch District Court and was remanded for a Crown case review hearing on September 12.

A case review is the next step on the path to a jury trial for Coakley on the charge that on or before December 31, 2015, at Otira, he injured people “in circumstances where if death had been caused he would have been guilty of manslaughter”.

The bus was operated by Travlon and the police will allege that Coakley had been contracted to conduct maintenance.

It was carrying 31 Chinese tourists on December 31 when the brakes allegedly failed as it travelled down the gorge.

The bus went out of control and collided with a car climbing the gorge, containing three people visiting from Switzerland. The bus then overturned and slid into a roadside barrier which brought it to a stop

Thirteen people were injured, receiving fractures and internal injuries. All three members of the Swiss family received moderate to serious injuries.

When police announced in May that a charge had been laid, they said the man charged was associated with the maintenance of the bus.

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North Canterbury drone pilot Simon Roy Reeve has avoided convictions for flying his aircraft at Pines Beach without authorisation when he was taking airborne footage of fire-fighting operations.

Christchurch District Court Judge Gary MacAskill ordered the 39-year-old to make a $500 donation to a charity of his choice by next Friday, when he discharged him without conviction at the sentencing today.

He also fined him $250 for breaching controlled airspace with the drone, but again did not enter convictions against the Kaiapoi man for the Civil Aviation Department prosecutions.

Reeve had denied the charge of causing danger by operating his drone on January 5 when a helicopter was in the area fighting a bush fire, and the two other air space breaches. Judge MacAskill reserved his decision at the judge-alone trial in April, and later issued his decision finding Reeve guilty.

Defence counsel Rupert Glover argued at today’s sentencing for discharges without convictions.

The judge said Reeve’s actions had made it possible that the drone and the helicopter could have collided, and the danger was unnecessary. There had been no reason for creating the danger, except to gain footage that might be sold to television.

The helicopter pilot had been rightly concerned to learn later that a drone was operating in the area, but the judge’s finding was that there was no “imminent danger”. There had been no near miss, and Reeve’s actions had been “at the lowest end of the scale in terms of actual risk”.

The prosecutor for the Director of Civil Aviation, Chris Macklin, said the department regarded it as “moderately serious offending” and he urged that a conviction, and a fine or community work be imposed. He said: “The stakes are deceptively high in this sector.”

Defence counsel Rupert Glover said the prosecution had been “an extremely educational exercise” for Reeve and everybody else.

Reeve, at the judge’s suggestion, had written a paper on current drone rules in New Zealand. This referred to concerns about tourists who might bring their drones into the country but did not know the rules.

Mr Glover told Judge MacAskill that Reeve had “never had so much as a library fine or a parking ticket” and he strongly urged that his life not be blighted with a conviction.

After the sentencing, Reeve said the outcome was “better than it could have been”.

Mr Glover said: “It means he’s got a clean record. This would have been a nasty conviction to have on the record for someone who wants to use drones to make a living.”

The prosecution had been “18 months of sheer hell” for Reeve, he said.

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A man shot in the thigh in an unexplained incident in Christchurch last week has now made a voluntary appearance at court, heading off an arrest warrant that was issued for him on Tuesday.

Dean Walter Louis, 30, arrived at the Christchurch Court House soon after the deadline for the issue of the arrest warrant was due to expire.

That meant the warrant did not need to be executed so Louis made a voluntary appearance and was remanded on bail to September 13 for the case review hearing he missed on Tuesday.

Christchurch District Court Judge Tom Gilbert issued the warrant to “lie in court” for almost 24 hours without being formally issued, after Louis failed to attend the hearing.

Louis was facing two charges of unlawfully possessing firearms and obstructing a constable, arising from a police search of his Yaldhurst Road address on April 6.

Police allege they found two rifles at the property, and an 8-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier was “shot and destroyed” on the property when it attacked officers and a police dog.

He has denied both charges and the case is heading for trial.

But last week, while he was on remand, he was shot in the thigh in an incident at the same Yaldhurst property and was delivered to hospital by a friend.

Defence counsel Anselm Williams explained to the judge on Tuesday that Louis had been shot last week and had ended up in hospital. He had not been able to reach Louis, nor find out whether he was still in hospital.

Police said at the time that the circumstances around the shooting were unclear, and it is believed no-one has yet been arrested.

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A couple are disappointed with police handling of the prosecution of a septic tank truck driver who veered across the road and knocked them off their motorcycle causing serious injuries.

The couple, Leo and Teresa Sluys, said after the Christchurch District Court sentencing of Jeremy Francis Lambie that they believed he should have been charged with reckless driving causing injury, or something more serious.

Teresa Sluys said: “We were disappointed with the way the police handled it because of the level of the charge. The judge just reiterated that in his comments.”

Lambie, from Oxford, was found guilty in April of two charges of careless driving causing injury to two motorcyclists who were overtaking his septic tank truck in November 2014.

Judge Paul Kellar found Lambie carelessly veered into the right hand lane of Main North Rakaia Road and collided with a motorcycle with a rider and pillion aboard.

He said Lambie called 111 after the crash, and told them that he may have swerved to the right.

Judge Kellar said Lambie was well aware the motorcycle was passing him, and because of the charges he did not need to say whether it was a deliberate move.

The two victims on the Harley Davidson motorbike told the court they saw effluent leaking from the hose at the back of Lambie’s septic tank truck, and decided to overtake him so they would not get covered in it.

They both said they believed Lambie deliberately veered to the right hand side of the road in front of them, and they collided.

Leo Sluys said: “The truck just lunged at us, there was no sign it was going to happen, no warning.”

He had no memory of what happened after the crash, until he woke up in hospital with a collapsed lung, broken leg, broken bone in his foot, damage to his spleen, cuts to his face, and three crooked fingers on his left hand. His hand was still damaged and he suffers short and long term memory loss.

Lambie told police he was motioning with his arm to slow the bike down, and denied going across the centre line. He said the bike pulled back in front of him in the lane, and collided with the truck.

Defence counsel David Jackson said at today’s sentencing that Lambie’s driving had been “clumsy, imprudent, and careless – but it wasn’t deliberate”.

“There was no suggestion of his acting with malice, or having any intention of knocking these cyclists down,” he said.

He told the court that Lambie was likely to lose his job because of the driving disqualification that would be imposed.

Judge Kellar said Lambie had “suddenly veered into the path of the motorcycle” causing serious injuries to the rider and pillion.

He said: “Given the level of the charge, it was unnecessary for me to determine whether you deliberately veered into the path of the motorcycle in a misguided attempt to slow them down, or some other more sinister finding.”

He imposed 200 hours of community work, disqualification for 10 months, reparations of $773 for the damage, and emotional harm reparations of $500 to each victim.

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A judge has suggested prison could be considered for repeat drink-driver Sarah Jane Arrow who crashed into people walking on the roadside at Redcliffs.

The victim, Ben Appleton, was in court to hear the decision of Christchurch District Court Judge Alistair Garland delaying the 45-year-old’s sentencing till September 28 so that submissions could be prepared by the defence and the police.

It is fourth time Arrow has been caught drink-driving, and this time she is charged with drink-driving causing injury.

Judge Garland said the offence carried a maximum of five years’ imprisonment and he was surprised that submissions had not been ordered when Arrow pleaded guilty in May to the drink-driving charge, and a charge of driving in breach of a zero-alcohol licence she had been granted on January 20.

He told the court that he had looked up sentencing authorities and found that sentences imposed ranged from three-and-a-half years’ jail downwards.

“I regret this case cannot proceed today,” the judge told Arrow. “These are serious charges and they require careful consideration by the court, not just for your sake, but also for the sake of the victim and the community.”

He remanded Arrow on renewed bail for the submissions to be prepared and the sentencing to take place.

Police said that members of the public had called police about her driving, because she was reported to be swerving, when she was on Main Road, Redcliffs, about 2.15pm on on March 25.

She failed to take a corner and struck a roadside barrier, which threw two pedestrians off a 2m bank and onto the rocks below.

Her breath test at the scene indicated a level of 1009mcg of alcohol to a litre of breath.

One pedestrian received minor bruises and scratches while the other suffered extensive breaks to both legs, an extensive skull fracture, broken ribs, and internal injuries.

The injuries required on-going treatment and surgery, the police said when Arrow pleaded guilty in May.

Arrow told police she had drunk two glasses of wine before driving and she had the sun in her eyes at the time of the crash.

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An amnesty bin where people left excess cigarettes they could not bring into New Zealand was repeatedly raided by a French citizen employed as a cleaner at Queenstown International Airport.

Thirty-two-year-old Costa Le Coubet told police he thought the cigarettes “were going to be thrown out so it wasn’t such a big issue”.

That issue was big enough for guilty pleas to four theft charges by Le Coubet at an appearance in the Christchurch District Court today.

He was stopped by Customs at Christchurch Airport as he was about to fly home to France and has forfeited his $1000 air ticket, according to defence counsel Claire Hislop.

At Miss Hislop’s request, Judge Tony Couch did not record convictions on the theft charges because Le Coubet will argue at his sentencing on October 10 that he should be discharged without conviction.

She said he had a tourism degree and having four theft convictions on his record would seriously affect his ability to travel.

She also asked for name suppression, but Judge Couch said he could see no reason for it and refused to grant it. He believed the case was “probably a matter of some public interest”.

Miss Hislop said Le Coubet would try to obtain work in Christchurch during his remand on bail. He was in New Zealand on a working holiday visa which would expire in November.

Le Coubet says the police already have his passport, and the court imposed an additional bail condition that he not attempt to leave New Zealand.

Police said he was employed as a cleaner at Queenstown Airport.

He was responsible for cleaning the Customs controlled area and had a door pass into the secure areas.

On June 3, Le Coubet and an associate entered the secure area where the cigarette amnesty bin is located. It contains cigarettes that have been forfeited to the Crown by passengers who have exceeded their limit of 50 cigarettes being brought into New Zaland and don’t want to pay tax on the excess cigarettes.

The bin is tamper proof and secured with a combination lock and a slanting security flap.

Le Coubet and the associate reached into the bin and got some cigarettes out.

He returned to the bin 45min later and got more cigarettes, and did it again on June 5 and June 8.

On June 9, Customs officers noticed the bin had been tampered with and looked through security camera footage which showed Le Coubet taking the cigarettes.

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A judge has rejected a two-time armed robber and convicted rapist’s claim that he is “not a violent man”.

Jason Ross Ford, 30, made his comment in his probation interview ahead of his sentencing in the Christchurch District Court on four charges including the knife-point hold-up of an Ashburton service station.

“I can’t understand it,” said Judge Stephen O’Driscoll. “He’s before me on a charge of aggravated robbery. He’s got a previous conviction for aggravated robbery with a firearm. He’s got a huge list of dishonesty convictions, and convictions for rape and abducting a girl for sex.
“And he still says he’s not a violent man.”

Defence counsel Bridget Ayrey said Ford probably considered he was not a violent man if he were not in the grip of his drug addiction. His latest offending occurred when he had “reached the lowest point and was acting out of desperation”.

Online records show that Ford was jailed in the district court at the age of 16, in 2002, for what was described as the “atrocious” rape of a young woman.

Now he has been jailed for four years eight months, for the hold up of the service station, a petrol drive-off theft from another service station, the burglary of the home of his mother and stepfather, and a breach of a supervision sentence.

Because of the long jail term and Ford’s inability to pay, Judge O’Driscoll did not order any reparation payments to the victims.

Ford tried to use a bankcard to withdraw cash at the service station and when the transaction was declined he presented a knife and told the woman attendant to pay him $80 because he had a bill to pay.

Judge O’Driscoll said the victim impact statement from Ford’s family made sad reading. They had lost jewellery worth nearly $5000 and computer equipment with personal material and photographs in the burglary at Netherby. “They are devastated that you have done this,” he said.

He also quoted from the victim impact statement of the service station staff member, who said she was determined to return to work two days later but had suffered a panic attack. He said she offered Ford “powerful and poignant advice”.

“Wake up, get straight, and be someone your family can be proud of,” she wrote. “Aim to be someone who, when you leave a place, people smile and think of you, and aren’t shaking and in tears.”

Judge O’Driscoll said Ford had difficult personal issues, but it all came down to his addiction to drugs.

Ford blamed his latest offending on not being able to access a residential treatment programme for his addiction.

The judge told him: “You need to take responsibility for your actions and not blame others for the predicament you are in. You must not attempt to minimise your actions and their consequences.”

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A 21-year-old Aranui man has denied robbing a Breezes Road dairy of cigarettes and cash and has elected trial by jury.

Isaac Whatuira was arrested the day after the alleged robbery and charged with unlawful possession of an offensive weapon – a knife – in Brougham Street.

He has pleaded guilty to the weapon charge.

At an appearance by Whatuira by video-link from the prison, in the Christchurch District Court today, defence counsel Elizabeth Bulger indicated he would plead not guilty to the robbery, and elected trial.

Police allege Whatuira and an unknown co-offender, both wearing masks, went into Ruchik Patel’s One Stop Convenience Store about 6.20am on June 28.

They say the robbers pulled the till from the counter and stuffed tobacco into a bag before running from the store.

Ruchik Patel chased them with a hammer and grabbed one of them before he was struck in the face, breaking his nose.

Judge Tom Gilbert remanded Whatuira in custody for a Crown case review hearing on September 26.

Miss Bulger indicated Whatuira may apply to the court for release on electronically monitored bail in the meantime.

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A pastor must pay $500 as emotional harm reparations to the victim of his road rage.

The Christchurch District Court was told it was a case of road rage that went “horribly wrong” when Sione Toutaiolepo was sentenced on charges of assault using a car as a weapon, and wilful damage.

Toutaiolepo, a 46-year-old pastor in the Tongan Church, said he followed a truck that he thought had cut him off in the incident that took place at the Riccarton Road-Straven Road intersection on January 14.

He armed himself with a tyre iron and shattered his victim’s driver side window.

The victim got out of the truck and said he was calling the police, so Toutaiolepo drove slowly at him causing him to fall backwards.

When the victim stood up Toutaiolepo drove at him again, and drove forward with the man clinging to the van until he fell off in the middle of the road. He suffered cuts and grazes, and Toutaiolepo drove off.

Defence counsel Paul Johnson said Toutaiolepo’s road rage went horribly wrong, but he had no previous convictions, and his probation report recommended a fine and reparation.

Judge Paul Kellar said Toutaiolepo told the probation officer that he took the tyre iron with him for his own protection.

He said Toutaiolepo had references that said he was an upstanding mild mannered man, and was involved in the Tongan community.

Judge Kellar accepted his remorse and sentenced him to 100 hours’ community work, an emotional harm payment of $500, and reparation for the window of $518.

Toutaiolepo had pleaded guilty to both charges.

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A 24-year-old man who allegedly used a taser to try to rob a dairy in Opawa was remanded in custody in the Christchurch District Court today.

Police allege Edward Paul Paterson tried to use the stun gun on the dairy owner, Kamlesh Patel. Patel was shielded by his leather jacket, but his wife, Neeta Patel, was zapped and suffered bruising down her arm.

Patel, his wife, and his daughter fought the masked man off, and followed him out of the dairy and noted his licence plate.

Police have charged Paterson with assault with a taser with intent to rob the Patels, possession of a cut-down single barrel shotgun, a pump action shotgun, ammunition, taser, knife, meat cleaver, axe, and a pipe for consuming methamphetamine.

Police had set up cordons in the area and stopped a vehicle on Tunnel Rd a short time later and arrested a man. They say they found weapons in the vehicle.

Defence counsel Andrew Bailey said Paterson was not applying for bail today, and Judge John MacDonald remanded him in custody to appear by video link from the Christchurch Men’s prison on August 15.

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A 35-year-old man who was removed from the Australia-New Zealand cricket test at Hagley Oval in February, was involved in a drunken road-rage incident 12 days later.

Luke Malcolm Geldard, an Australian expatriate who has served with the Australian Army, protested about being pushed in the face by a security guard at the cricket test when he was removed from the ground.

He laid a complaint with the police, saying he had been assaulted, and said he was very disappointed when the police decided not to charge the security guard.

Police said they intervened because Geldard resisted leaving the ground, and he was restrained and escorted from the venue. Attending officers described him as “intoxicated and argumentative”.

In the Christchurch District Court today, he pleaded guilty to six charges arising from a different incident on March 6, after he had become drunk at a wine and food festival in North Canterbury.

He admitted dangerous driving, drink-driving, three charges of assault, and wilful damage.

Judge Tony Couch remanded him on bail for a pre-sentence report, a possible restorative justice meeting, and sentencing on September 13.

Police said Geldard headed back to Christchurch from he festival about 5pm on March 6, with his partner and three-month-old child in the car. He had drunk wine and beer.

He drove at excessive speed through Belfast, swerving in and out of traffic, passing on the left, and tailgating. He collided with a median strip and temporarily lost control, before continuing on the Main North Road.

He tailgated a vehicle as he approached Styx Mill Road, and rear-ended the other car as it slowed for a red traffic light.

There was an argument about whose fault it was and other members of the public intervened to prevent Geldard driving away because of his manner of driving.
He did drive away by driving onto the left shoulder at speed, and dangerously close to the victim, the police said.

The victim followed Geldard’s vehicle and phoned the police.

Then Geldard stopped his car, got out and walked up to the victim’s vehicle. He shouted, “What’s your problem, what’s your problem,” as he punched him several times through the driver’s window.

The victim back-handed Geldard whose nose began to bleed. Geldard spat blood and spittle several times through the open window, where it landed on the victim and his 12-year-old daughter who was in the passenger seat. She became hysterical because of the continuing attack on her father.

The victim then drove off but Geldard chased the vehicle, kicking and hitting it, and damaged several panels. The repair bill is $7892.

A test taken by the police showed Geldard had 183mg of alcohol to 100ml of blood – more than twice the legal limit.

Both assault victims had their faces covered in Geldard’s blood and the driver had bruising and grazes from the assault. Geldard declined to comment.

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