File image. © Andrew Bardwell

After getting a 10-year jail term for eight years of sexual abuse of his stepdaughter, a 39-year-old man told his victim: “I love you so much.”

Christchurch District Court Judge Tom Gilbert had granted the man’s request to say something from the dock and he turned to the girl sitting in the front row of public seating, with her mother – his wife.

His words were hard to make out. He seemed to say: “I love you so much. Some listen, some don’t. Get all this crap out (of your head), okay?”

The girl left the courtroom in tears and the man had often been weeping as he stood in the dock during the hour-long sentencing.

He had admitted two charges of raping her, sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, attempted sexual violation, abduction for sex, two charges of sexual conduct with a child under 12, and two for a child under 16. Two of the sexual conduct charges were representative, meaning the offending occurred repeatedly.

The 16-year-old stepdaughter told the court she hoped to get her family back together, including the stepfather. There will be no prospect of that for at least four-and-a-half years, after the non-parole term expires on the 10-year jail term.

The girl said she felt angry and sad about what the man had done to her from the age of eight till she was 15, and she was glad that it had stopped.

But she was upset that her disclosure had led to her family being torn apart. “I want him to get better and come home so we can be a family again.”

She said she had had her own mental health problems but her stepfather had been the one who was on her wave-length and helped her cope with the world. She was now not allowed any contact with him but wanted to talk to him and visit him in prison.

“I want our family to stay together,” she said, and as she ended her statement the man blew her a kiss from the dock.

The 39-year-old man accepted his offending and his defence counsel Tom Stevens told the court he was “grateful” it had all been brought to an end when the girl called at the Hornby Police Station in Christchurch on January 26.

Her visit was rapidly followed by the arrival of the man himself, who told the police he was “a disgrace of a person” who needed to be locked away. He said he could not control his urges and took it out on the girl.

Police said: “He stated his thoughts and urges had become increasingly violent over time and he was worried he was going to kill her.”

His offending involved eating chocolate off her bare skin, rubbing against her, raping her, and at one stage tying her hands to the headboard of her bed using his dressing gown cord. He untied her and apologised to her soon after. The was the day the girl went to the police station.

Judge Gilbert said: “This is a very serious case of long term sexual abuse of a person you ought to have protected.

“There will undoubtedly be harm that has been caused even if (the stepdaughter) does not recognise it yet.”

In the psychological report prepared ahead of the sentencing, the man presented as having two personalities. He openly talked about the wicked things he had done being perpetrated by “the evil me”.

“The psychologist felt this may be a strategy on your part to avoid properly confronting what you have done,” said Judge Gilbert.

He noted that until recently the man had been in the prison’s At Risk Unit, where prisoners are closely monitored, and that he had attempted suicide last year.

But he said: “There is not question that you knew what you were doing, and that what you were doing was wrong.”

He accepted the man was remorseful for the damage he had caused and was willing to have treatment.

He read the man the first strike warning that imposes heavier penalties on repeat sexual offenders, and granted permanent name suppression to protect the victim.

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Two Lincoln University students have admitted using a row boat to carry out the first burglary in 17 years on Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

The pair not only took property from the holiday home but caused $14,518 damage.

By the time they faced sentencing in the Christchurch District Court they had apologised and paid for all the losses.

They were asking for discharges without conviction but Judge John Strettell decided the burglary was too serious and refused to let them off.

Instead, Thomas William Sebald Steck, 22, and Richard John Tattersfield, 20, will each have to do 150 hours of community work, and they will have to live with the burglary conviction on their records.

Defence counsel for Tattersfield, Craig Ruane, said the pair would have to do a “walk of shame” when they returned to Great Barrier Island because of their “drunken, stupid, boorish escapade”.

They would return to the island, because they had been staying at a family holiday home there. It was a small community and everyone would know what they had done.

The burglary took place at 1am on April 13, when the pair went out in a row boat from where they were staying, to look at phosphorescent plankton. They had consumed “a significant amount of alcohol” and had become drunk, said Judge Strettell.

They rowed for 20 minutes around to the next day where there was a holiday house that was not occupied at the time. They tied up at a jetty.

They looked around the house and then Tattersfield kicked and smashed a glass pane in a French door and reached through to unlock it. They stole significant items and caused damage by breaking bottles on the floor, pulling items off the walls, and smashing solar panels and wiring with an axe they found in a shed.

They caused $14,518 in damage, and took items worth $3560. The pair later sunk some of the gear in the sea and drank some of the alcohol.

A day after returning to the house where they were staying, they ended their holiday and drove back to Christchurch. They then went to the Christchurch Central Police Station and told them what they had done. They were able to hand over some of the stolen property.

After they apologised and paid for the losses, the burglary victim was not opposed to the pair being granted a discharge without conviction. The victim said the whole Great Barrier community had been affected, and according to a local police constable it was the first burglary on the island for 17 years.

Mr Ruane and counsel for Steck, Cindy Lee, argued that the pair should be granted the discharge because of the likely consequences on their career prospects of having a burglary conviction on their records. It might also affect future travel plans.

Both are studying for degrees and were seen as a low risk of reoffending, said Miss Lee.

Discharges can be granted when the consequences of a conviction are out of all proportion to the gravity of the offence.

But Judge Strettell said it was a serious offence — a burglary involving so much property taken and damaged. He was not satisfied that the consequences were out of proportion. Although the pair had taken steps to right the wrongs, some offences were so serious that “they must have consequences for everyone”. He imposed the conviction and sentences.

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The Lyttelton Port Co has been fined $75,000 for a health and safety breach that occurred only weeks after the death of employee Bradley Fletcher when machinery toppled at the port.

The fine was imposed by Judge Tony Couch in the Christchurch District Court today at the end of a WorkSafe New Zealand prosecution that has gone on for 16 months.

Judge Couch increased the fine because of the earlier fatal accident but reduced it for the measures the port company has since taken to minimise harm to employees, and for its guilty plea.

Defence counsel for the port company, Garth Gallaway, told the court of the steps taken by the company at the time of the accident and since as he discussed the level of fine WorkSafe was asking for.

“Hundreds of thousands and possible up to a million dollars have been spent on health and safety since Mr Fletcher’s accident,” he said. “This is not a case where an organisation should be hammered with a high starting point and an uplift again.”

In August 2015, the port company was ordered to pay $138,000 in fines and reparations over Mr Fletcher’s death when a scissor crane toppled at work at the port on August 28, 2014. He was not trained to operate the scissor lift. Mr Fletcher was a father of three.

The latest prosecution arose about two weeks later, on September 11, 2014. The company pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to take all practicable steps as an employer to ensure the safety of its employees at work.

The charges says that the firm failed to take all practicable steps to ensure that staff were not exposed to hazards relating to a Snorkel Boom, also known as a cherry picker.

WorkSafe prosecutor DeAnne Brabant said the offending had the potential for serious harm, and the charge had been laid about the same time as the charge over the workplace death.

“It is substantially the same nature of offending, though luckily no death or injury occurred here,” she said.

She said it was a case where the port should have been “highly vigilant”, but there had been a failure to maintain and ensure the machinery was fit for purpose, to ensure it was inspected and operated in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, and to deal with maintenance issues.

When problems arose, the most appropriate step would have been to take the Snorkel Boom out of commission.

Mr Gallaway said it had been complex accident investigation which took a long time to assess the technical issues. Training had been undertaken for people working on elevated work platforms.

Judge Couch said WorkSafe was saying that the company “was not thorough enough in minimising harm”.

He said that in 2014, the company was advised by a consultant that its health and safety systems were not up to standard and the company subsequently began a review and overhaul of those systems. There was then the fatal accident involving a scissor lift machine.

This led to a widespread investigation into the safety of the scissor lift and cherry picker machinery, and the company became aware that the cherry picker was faulty. Other issues arose relating to training, maintenance, and operation of the machinery.

WorkSafe’s investigation revealed that the company had failed to take all practicable steps in relation to employees’ safety with the cherry pickers.

Had the steps been taken, the hazards would have been “effectively minimised”, he said. He reduced the fine because the company had been fully co-operative with the WorkSafe investigation and had since taken practicable steps to minimise harm to employees using the cherry picker and other equipment.

WorkSafe’s Chief Inspector Keith Stewart said after the sentencing that companies using any machinery in their work must ensure the machinery was maintained according to manufacturers’ instructions and must have an effective system in place to identify faults.

“If faults are found, they must be documented, the machine taken out of service for assessment and workers advised of the faults and whether or not the machinery can be used,” he said.

Issues about the use of the cherry picker were raised with the company the day after the fatal accident. Two weeks later, a mechanical fault with the cherry picker was discovered and it was not removed from service.

“While there had been no injury to workers, there were multiple failings in the company’s management of the cherry picker that could easily have led to a worker being injured,” Mr Stewart said.

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A woman has admitted charges of armed burglary and assault with intent to injure after the Crown dropped a charge of attempted poisoning as her Christchurch District Court trial was due to begin.

The woman Natalae Grace McAllister, 24, was discharged on the attempted poisoning charge by Judge Alistair Garland and remanded on bail for sentencing on November 9.

Crown prosecutor Kathy Basire said the Crown would offer no evidence on a charge of causing a woman to take seratine and nurofen with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Judge Garland dismissed the jury before the three-day trial began, telling them that the resolution of the case was “a late and unexpected event”.

“Please don’t think that your attendance has not been worthwhile,” he told the jurors. “In fact it is the reason why this trial has resolved.”

The fact that they had attended and been ready to sit as jurors had brought resolution because it tended “tends to concentrate the mind of some people at the last minute”.

Judge Garland ordered a pre-sentence report with an assessment of McAllister’s suitability for home detention. He said home detention “might possibly be optimistic” because aggravated burglary carried a maximum of 14 years imprisonment.

The incident arose from friction after a break-up of McAllister’s relationship with a man who had a child with her.

In October and November 2014 McAllister sent threatening text messages to her ex-partner’s new partner. The Crown said the text exchanges became “heated and vitriolic”.

On the morning of November 18, 2014, McAllister went to the address where the ex-partner was living with the woman. She knocked on the door and then hid from view beside the door.

When the woman opened the door, McAllister burst in, punched her and grabbed her around the throat. She pulled her to the ground by her hair and then choked her.

The woman fought back and managed to stand up. McAllister forced her into the corner of a room, punched her repeatedly on the back of the head and kicked her several times in the face and stomach.

When the assault ended, she went into the kitchen and took a kitchen knife with a 185mm blade.

As the woman sat on the bed recovering from her injuries, McAllister held the knife to her face and told her to get into the boot of her car. She threatened to assault her if she saw her again.

McAllister then told her to pack up her stuff and get out of the house. The woman ran to a dairy where she called police and an ambulance.

The woman received serious bruising and swelling to her face and head, a sore back and right arm, and bruising and scratching to her throat.

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A 38-year-old Northcote man told police he had no memory of using a screwdriver to inflict 30 stab wounds on two men in an apparent jealousy attack.

Christopher Charles Mohi, a labourer, admitted two charges of injuring the men with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Christchurch District Court Judge John Strettell remanded him in custody for sentencing on October 5, with a pre-sentence report that will assess his suitability for home detention.

Mohi had earlier admitted unlawfully taking a car belonging to one of the victims.

He pleaded guilty to the injuring charges after they were reduced from wounding, which carries a heavier penalty.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Dave Murray said Mohi arrived drunk at an address in New Brighton about 9.30pm on April 24.

He walked into the lounge where both men were and approached one of them as he sat on the couch, and accused him of having a relationship with his ex-partner.

He threw a screwdriver at the man, who asked what it was all about and handed the screwdriver back.

Mohi then used the screwdriver to stab him about 20 times in the head, neck, and body.

The other man calmed him down and escorted him from the address. He began driving him to his home in Northcote, in the first stabbing victim’s car.

Along Queen Elizabeth II Drive, Mohi struck the driver about 10 times in the left shoulder with the same screwdriver.

The driver deliberately crashed the car and ran off. A member of the public picked him up and drove him away but Mohi drove after them in the crashed vehicle.

Mohi turned off and abandoned the vehicle near St Bede’s College before changing his clothing at a relative’s house and leaving again. Police found him soon after.

Mohi told the police he could not recall what had happened.

Police said at the time that the first victim was admitted to Christchurch Hospital, but the second man was treated and discharged.

Defence counsel Tony Garrett suggested that a restorative justice meeting with the victims might be arranged during the remand for sentencing and Judge Strettell referred the case for this to be done.

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A 42-year-old man ran a “significant criminal enterprise” – a clearing house for stolen cars and property – from the Linwood Avenue house where he was serving home detention.

Police found Eugene Carl Davis’ house strewn with stolen goods, vehicles that had been stripped of identifying marks or dismantled, and a stolen horse float.

“It is hard to imagine more flagrant offending,” said Christchurch District Court Judge Tom Gilbert. “You were acting as a clearing house for stolen items – pretty much anything you could get your hands on.”

Davis had run a significant criminal enterprise and caused “a high degree of harm and inconvenience to a lot of people”, said the judge as he jailed him for a total of four years three months on 26 charges.

For a long time, Davis didn’t actually breach his home detention – that would presumably have brought the authorities knocking on his door. But eventually he cut off his tracking bracelet and went on the run in a stolen car, raiding houses and cars in the Arthur’s Pass area.

He had been given a chance with a home detention sentence last year on charges of burglary, unlawfully taking a car, and possession of utensils for taking methamphetamine.

Defence counsel Claire Hislop said he took up the rental of the Linwood Avenue property to serve the sentence but flatmate arrangements fell through and he could no longer afford it on the benefit he was receiving. He told Community Probation about his difficulties.

He fell into arrears with the rent and the place became a dumping ground for a lot of vehicles and equipment. He could not leave the property because of home detention, and the items just kept on arriving. “It got completely out of hand.”

Finally, Davis had no money and was back using methamphetamine when he cut off the bracelet and went to Arthur’s Pass with a co-offender, where he was arrested.

A person also spotted a friend’s stolen horse float on the front lawn of the Linwood Avenue property, and police checks there found stolen property and vehicles. These were linked to thefts, burglaries, and car thefts carried out for months around the city.

Davis was originally charged with several burglaries, but after checking the home detention monitoring records, it showed he was at home when much of the offending happened. The charges were then amended to receiving stolen property.

Judge Gilbert sentenced him for 14 receiving charges, two thefts, three burglaries, and breach of home detention, plus the burglaries and car break-ins at Arthur’s Pass, and resentencing for the earlier burglaries, taking a car, and possession of utensils for using methamphetamine.

He said German tourists had had their car raided by Davis while it was parked at Bealey Spur. “They have since left for home in Germany and you can imagine what they say to their countrymen about how they got on here, at your hands.”

Many of the victims had lost cameras which contained “personal and sentimental memories”. There was an emotional impact from his offending.

Stolen property found probably totalled close to $80,000. He accepted that Davis had returned to using methamphetamine and had been in difficult financial circumstances, but much of the offending was “just gratuitious”. It had involved high value items, and much of the stolen property would never be recovered and returned to its owners. Fortunately, it seemed many victims had good insurance cover.

He noted that Davis had rejected the chance he had been given for a home detention sentence, and there was no chance of him paying reparations.

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A woman has been jailed for three years three months for stabbing her partner with a kitchen knife as he slept.

The man was rushed to hospital on December 10 for urgent surgery on the knife wound to the abdomen.

He said in a victim impact statement in June that he was “moving better but still sore” but could ride his bicycle again. He was still having nightmares and was anxious about being around women.

Forty-nine-year-old Nicola Anne Winter was appearing for sentence before Judge Bernadette Farnan in the Christchurch District Court after admitting the charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Defence counsel Tony Garrett said Winter had mental health issues including post traumatic stress disorder, lack of cognitive functioning, and a low frustration tolerance. She had a very serious alcohol problem and had been highly intoxicated when the attack occurred.

The Crown said that after the man had gone to sleep, Winter had looked at messages on his phone, which she thought had been sent to young girls, and she had then attacked him. The police inquiry found that the messages had gone to women the man was entitled to contact.

Judge Farnan said the pair had spent the day together drinking, before the attack had occurred.

She allowed a reduction of the jail term for Winter’s guilty plea and her mental health issues. She noted that Winter had taken some steps for rehabilitation since her arrest.

“I hope this sentence brings you to the point at your release from prison where you develop some understanding of the effect of your offending on the victim,” said the judge.

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File image. © Andrew Bardwell

A man who raped and did indecent acts on a young girl was jailed for over 10 years in the Christchurch District Court, but did not get a minimum period of prison imposed.

The Crown prosecutor, Nicola Pointer, had told Judge Jane Farish that she was seeking the minimum term of imprisonment for 42-year-old Robert Boyd, a West Coast farmer.

Boyd was sentenced on one charge of rape, four of doing indecent acts on a girl under 12, assault with a blunt instrument, and assault.

He was read the first of the three strike warnings that impose heavier penalties on repeat violent and sexual offenders.

The girl’s victim impact statement was read in court, and she said she lived in fear he would come back to get her as he threatened her with that when he assaulted her. She said she could not trust anyone, had difficulty sleeping at night, and when she heard noises in the night she thought he might be there.

Defence counsel Marcus Zintl said Boyd maintained his innocence, but he was found guilty at trial.

Judge Farish said the offending happened in 2011, and Boyd pleaded guilty to assaulting a child using a weapon – a belt – and assaulting a boarder who lived with him, but denied the sexual charges.

She said Boyd was given electronically monitored bail in 2012, but he left the country and went to Australia.

He spent 18 months detained there while waiting to be extradited, and became mentally unwell and was not fit to stand trial until this year.

She said the offending was very serious, and quite violent.

His pre-sentence report said Boyd had formerly done treatment programmes, and had a good work ethic when he was employed.

His psychiatric report said he had a psychotic disorder, and had been addicted to various drugs, and alcohol. It recommended he receive further treatment in custody.

Judge Farish sentenced Boyd to ten years four months in prison, but decided against a Crown application for a minimum non-parole term to be imposed.

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Murder proceedings against James Stedman Roberts have been formally discontinued in the High Court in Christchurch, a month after he was found dead.

Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes handed Justice Cameron Mander a stay of proceedings document issued by the Attorney-General.

Roberts, 35, a labourer from Redwood, was found dead in early July at the Christchurch house where he was staying on electronically monitored bail while he awaited trial on the charge of murdering his five-year-old stepson, Leon Michael leFleming Jayet-Cole.

The trial had been set for October 31 and was expected to last three weeks.

Leon died after suffering a serious head injury in May 2015.

Defence counsel James Rapley said he supported the Crown’s application for a stay.

Judge Mander then said: “The court having been provided with a formal stay of proceedings against Mr Roberts by the Attorney-General in the wake of Mr Roberts’ death, the proceeding in this court brought against Mr Roberts is now at an end.”

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A fourth person has admitted scamming very elderly Christchurch victims – women aged 88, 94, 95, and 97.

Leanna Korau, also known as Wylie, aged 27, unemployed, admitted four charges of causing loss by deception before Judge Raoul Neave in the Christchurch District Court today.

She was admitting her role in a crime ring that has scammed elderly victims out of tens of thousands of dollars with a well practiced ruse.

Two offenders have already been jailed, and Korau was today remanded in custody for sentencing on October 7, with a pre-sentence report that will also consider her suitability for a home detention term.

Another offender, 26-year-old Tayla-Dane Korau, pleaded guilty a few days ago and will be sentenced at the same time.

The scam involved a person phoning the victims, telling them they were from their bank or power company, and saying there was a problem with their bank card. They threatened that services would be cut off unless the issue was dealt with.

Another “staff member” would then arrive, obtain the apparently faulty bank card and PIN number, and replace it with a Pressie card. With the bank card and PIN number then in the hands of members of the crime ring, the victim’s bank account would then be raided with withdrawals and purchases totalling thousands of dollars.

In the four cases involving Korau, the victims lost a total of $34,526.

When interviewed by the police, Korau said she received only about $3000 from the scam while her associates received about $30,000.

Two other people facing charges relating to the scam are pleading not guilty and their cases are still to be heard.

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A Christchurch school teacher facing indecency charges has been remanded in custody for a month, to a Christchurch District Court session where he will be expected to enter pleas.

Michael William Hogan, 54, faces 15 charges of sexual violation and indecencies with a boy aged under 16.

Hogan has acknowledged that some offending occurred, but has not yet entered pleas. The offending relates to when he was at a rural Southland school, but in recent times Hogan has been the principal at Prebbleton School.

At a case review today, Judge Tom Gilbert remanded Hogan in custody to a pre-trial callover on October 12, when pleas should he entered. The remand was granted at the request of defence counsel Grant Tyrrell.

Hogan has been in custody for the last two months.

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A 22-year-old’s two inept shoplifting episodes have sent him on the road to rehabilitation to sort out his drug and alcohol issues.

Jackson Strathdee-Goomes, of Somerfield, admitted four trespass and theft charges before Judge John Strettell at the Christchurch District Court today.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Paul Scott said Strathdee-Goomes had been trespassed in April and July from The Warehouse and from Barrington Mall.

On August 12, he went to The Warehouse at Barrington, stole several pairs of socks worth $40 and did get out of the store.

His mistake was then going to a shop in the mall and asking for a bag to put the socks in.

Mall security was called and he was arrested.

He was released by the police at 3pm, with a bail condition that he not go to the mall.

He was back there at 7.17pm and this time his tactic was to grab three pairs of socks worth $30 from The Warehouse and run out the main door.

A customer tried to restrain him but he broke free and ran off. The socks were recovered.

Defence counsel Allister Davis asked for the case to be dealt with straight away because Strathdee-Goomes was under a sentence of intensive supervision and was booked in for detox as part of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation programme at the end of this month.

Judge Strettell noted that Strathdee-Goomes had now got into a pattern of behaviour, and had been sentenced to intensive supervision for thefts in July. A programme was now in place to treat his alcohol and drug dependency.

He ordered Strathdee-Goomes to come up for sentence within nine months if called upon. It meant there would be no penalty, but if he offended again he would be brought back to court and sentenced on these charges as well.

Mr Davis told the court: “If he trips up, I have told him in no uncertain terms what will happen.”

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A Christchurch judge has sent an $86,000 message to the transport industry that it must get to grips with the issue of driver workload and fatigue.

Otorohanga-based family business Freight Lines Ltd must pay the penalty for failing to keep one of its drivers within the legal work time limits.

The driver, John Breach, fell asleep at the wheel near Ashley on a long return trip from the North Island and crashed the truck and double trailer unit off the road and into a tree.

It took rescue services three hours to cut him out of the wreckage and months of recovery in hospital and rehabilitation followed. “He has paid the highest price of anybody,” Christchurch District Court Judge Tom Gilbert said as he imposed the penalty.

He said Freight Lines Ltd had failed to allocate tasks in a way that reduced driver fatigue, or to train its dispatchers to deal with the issue.

“It is indisputable, the danger that the fatigue of drivers at the wheel of large truck and trailer units poses to the drivers and to other road users,” said the judge.

Freight Lines must pay $30,000 as emotional harm reparations to the driver, as well as a fine of $51,000, and $5000 towards the prosecution’s costs.

The dispatcher who was dealing with the driver, Aaron Pourewa, was fined $4000. The judge acknowledged that he was also under significant pressure and had been working 15 hour days, but he should have taken steps to address the driver’s workload and fatigue.

“He should have known that the tasks were not achievable within the time limts,” said the judge.

The 67-year-old driver was found to have been falsifying records himself, to keep up with his workload. He had worked 77 hours in the week leading up to the November 2014 crash. He had only had a 7.5hr break instead of the required 10 hours, and had breached the requirements for half-hour breaks. A suggestion that he take a motel for a break on that trip was abandoned when it was realised he would not reach the Cook Strait ferry in time.

Judge Gilbert said the dispatcher should have calculated whether the tasks allocated within the time limits were achievable within the work time limits. He had accepted that he could have done more to stop the driver continuing to drive.

Judge Gilbert said the driver said he was “following instructions in terms of handling the work assigned to him”.

Prosecutor Heather McKenzie called for the penalty to reflect a specific deterrence for Freight Lines and a general deterrence for the transport industry. She described it as an industry-wide problem.

The driver, John Breach, who had travelled from Matamata for the sentencing, said the crash had had a devastating effect on himself and his partner and their lives. He had now passed the required tests but had not been able to get more transport work and Freight Lines had terminated his work.

“I have been very hurt by the way Freight Lines has treated me,” he told the court.

His long term partner, Sylvia Griffin, said Mr Breach had been “a smashed up mess” when she saw him in hospital in Christchurch after the crash. She now felt like she had lost her partner and was scared for their future.

Counsel for Freight Lines, Shafraz Khan, said the company had invested $180,000 in an electronic monitoring system that ensured drivers did not exceed driving limits, as well as paying $16,000 a month for electronic odometers that provided the tracking data. It had also redone its health and safety policies and increased training to drivers and dispatchers.

Both the company and the dispatcher had admitted charges under the Health and Safety in Employment laws of failing to ensure the safety of the driver.

The judge reduced the company’s fine for its guilty plea, the steps it had taken, and its favourable record under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. However, he noted it had 16 transport convictions from 1996 to 2011 including breaches of work time limits, and allowing vehicles to be used with log book omissions.

Judge Gilbert thanked the driver and his partner for reading their victim impact statements in court.

He also thanked the company officials for attending the hearing. “There are some companies which choose not to front up to a forum like this. I appreciate that you have.”

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A 27-year-old man deliberately rammed a car off Hoon Hay Road but missed injuring the target of his attack.

The passenger emerged unscathed but the driver was badly injured with broken ribs, collarbone and ankle, and a contusion to his aortic wall.

Christchurch District Court Judge Gary MacAskill told Curtis Peter McNally: “Your actions had the potential to place other members of the public at considerable risk of injury or death. You deliberately rammed the vehicle with the intention of causing injury.”

He jailed McNally for five years eight months with a series of prison terms on four charges, and including two months added for unpaid fines totalling $14,000.

McNally will also have to pay $21,869 reparations for the damage he did, after he is released from prison. The payment includes $2500 to the driver as emotional harm reparations, because of lost income and the fact that he has had to give up a more physical job he enjoyed, because of his injuries.

McNally had admitted charges of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm, two breaches of a protection order, and breaching a 60-hour community work sentence – he had done none of the hours.

Defence counsel Ruth Harcourt said some of the offending arose from McNally’s wish to see his five-year-old daughter, after his relationship had ended and a protection order had been taken out against him.

The court was told that his ex-partner wanted him to undergo anger management and parenting courses before he could see the girl.

McNally drove onto a service station forecourt on Hoon Hay Road at 8.40pm on December 17. He had animosity towards a man who was inside buying items. McNally reversed his car, narrowly missing the man, when he came out.

McNally followed as the other car left the forecourt, with his target in the passenger seat.

About 350m along Hoon Hay Road, McNally rammed the front right of his car in the rear left of the other car, causing it to go out of control into a power pole and through a fence into a front yard.

The target extracted himself from the wreck relatively unscathed, but the driver remained trapped until he was got out by emergency services. He was badly injured and in a serious condition.

Judge MacAskill described McNally’s ex-partner receiving threatening messages from him by Facebook Messenger, concerning access to his daughter. He told the woman: “I’ll make your life hell,” “You will be put in your place,” and “If I’m not allowed her, I’ll take her from you.”

The messages caused her to fear for her safety, the judge said.

He noted McNally’s previous convictions for assault, breaching prison release conditions, dangerous driving, and breach of a protection order.

The pre-sentence report described him as a recidivist whose offending had not abated in spite of prison sentences. It said: “It is clear this habitual behaviour will require intensive intervention. Past rehabilitative programmes have met with little success.”

The judge made the reparation order after hearing that McNally was regarded as a “loyal and dedicated worker” and a skilful employee. He ordered McNally to begin payments three months after his release.

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A man said to be a senior Head Hunters gang figure in Christchurch has denied a charge of receiving stolen travel vouchers.

Lyndon Vaughan Richardson, 43, entered the not guilty plea before a registrar at the Christchurch District Court today.

He was remanded on bail for a case review hearing on October 11.

He also denies a charge of failing to attend court while on bail.

Richardson was arrested after a police raid on the gang’s Christchurch headquarters in Sockburn on July 21.

The charge alleges Richardson received stolen travel vouchers worth $250, from persons unknown, and was reckless about whether they were stolen.

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A youth has been sent to prison for 18 months for his part in a group robbery of teenagers in November.

David Farhan Prasad was sentenced on charges of robbery, theft of an I-Phone, receiving a cell-phone, and obtaining $300 by deception.

The 19-year-old was refused a home detention sentence by Christchurch District Court Judge Raoul Neave, who said the street robbery occurred while Prasad was on bail for the other offending.

Judge Neave said Prasad was in a group of offenders who came up behind a group of teenagers in Linwood Avenue, near Linwood Park.

One of the offenders punched a victim in the side of his face and kicked him in the chest. Another offender threatened to shoot the teenagers.

Prasad was not involved in the violence, but a stolen cell-phone was found at his address, Judge Neave said.

In his victim impact report the victim said it was a frightening experience, but there were no lasting effects.

Judge Neave said Prasad’s pre-sentence report said he did not take responsibility for the offending, and had had no interest in engaging in the supervision sentence he had been given for previous offending.

He sentenced him to 18 month’s prison, and said he could not apply for home detention. He ordered a reparation payment of $300, and read him the first of the three strikes warnings for violent offenders.

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A 31-year-old with Mongrel Mob links was high on methamphetamine and alcohol when his aggressive driving injured two people in a taxi he crashed into.

“He is hazy as to what took place,” defence counsel Chris Persson said at the Christchurch District Court sentencing of Reon Brent Borell.

Mr Persson told Judge Raoul Neave that Borell had been in custody on remand for 15 months since his arrest, and had done courses in prison. “There seems to be a change occurring with this man,” he said urging the judge to impose a sentence that would allow Borell to undergo rehabilitation at Moana House in Dunedin.

The recidivist offender was jailed for 30 months on 12 charges, all occurring on May 13, 2015.

He began by burgling a Hoskyns Road, Templeton, home, taking a laptop, television, cheque book, cash, food, rifle, and two shotguns.

He moved on to a home in Dyers Pass Road where he took wine, cash, a laptop, five passports, and personal items.

He then drove dangerously along Moorhouse Ave, going through two red lights, aggressively changing lanes, and swerving around cars.

He drove towards Hornby where he swerved out of his lane and hit a taxi, injuring both the driver and his passenger. Both cars ended up on the footpath, but Borell reversed back onto the road and continued.

He drove to a house in Marshs Road Templeton, and took photography equipment, a computer tablet, computer equipment, and other items.

When he was arrested he failed to complete an alcohol breath test, and refused a blood sample to be taken, telling the police present that he wanted to fight them.

His car was searched and a rifle, knuckle duster, and three knives were found. There was also a pipe for smoking methamphetamine, and 17g of dried cannabis.

He was sentenced on three charges of burglary, dangerous driving, dangerous driving causing injury, failing to stop to ascertain injury after a crash, disqualified driving, refusing to give blood, possession of a firearm, possession of offensive weapons, possession of cannabis, and possession of a pipe.

Mr Persson said Borell felt bad because he had caused injury.

Police prosecutor Glenn Henderson said Borell had previous firearms, burglary, and driving convictions, and was a recidivist offender.

Judge Raoul Neave said there was a real concern when people stole firearms, and stealing laptops and phones meant people irretrievably lost personal photographs.

Borell’s pre-sentence report said he was entrenched in a local gang, Judge Neave said, and he told him that the gang would always lead him into temptation, and that he needed to build a relationship with his family and forget about the gang.

He urged the parole board, where Borell will have a meeting almost immediately, to release him into a rehabilitation facility.

He said the victims of the burglaries were frightened, lost property, and did not feel safe in their homes. Burglary caused a sense of invasion that some people never got over.

Borell had caused financial, personal, and emotional costs to the people in the accident, he said.

He sentenced Borell to 30 months’ prison, and to pay reparation of $3750.

He disqualified him from driving and said he would have to apply for a zero-alcohol licence when he was allowed to drive again.

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Bay Aferahama Haika’s very public apology has helped to keep him out of prison for his fourth drink-driving conviction.

Christchurch District Court Judge John Strettell told the 55-year-old that prison was sometimes imposed for a fourth conviction at a high level.

Haika’s level was high when he was caught driving erratically on Fitzgerald Avenue at 9pm on December 18. He had 1013mcg of alcohol to a litre of breath – more than four times the legal limit.

But defence counsel Kerry Cook urged the judge to consider the long gap of 19 years since Haika’s last conviction, his genuine remorse, and his attendance at a treatment programme.

Haika had taken the “extraordinary step” of publicly apologising by publishing a newspaper advertisement.  “Most people who come to the courts try to keep their offending as private as possible,” he said.

Judge Strettell said to Haika: “You have taken steps to put yourself through a programme and have apologised generally to others through an advertisement in the paper. That is uncommon, I have to say. It does at least recognise a degree of remorse.”

But he said Haika had been driving with a high level of breath-alcohol, when it was clear from his erratic driving that he was a danger on the roads and could not properly control his vehicle.

He also took into account the long gap since his last conviction.

He imposed four months of community detention with a nightly curfew at Haika’s Linwood address, 150 hours of community work, nine months of intensive supervision with a special condition that he take alcohol and drug intervention as required, and disqualified him for driving for a year.

Haika, a salvage worker, had pleaded guilty to the charge in June.

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A Redwood man facing fraud charges involving $91,850 has been refused bail at an appeal hearing in the High Court at Christchurch.

Kim Michael David Barwell, 50, has denied all 66 charges and elected trial by jury. He has been in custody since his arrest in March and two bail applications have been made and refused in the Christchurch District Court.

Defence counsel Rupert Glover argued before Justice Rachel Dunningham in the High Court yesterday that Barwell ought to be released on bail pending trial.

Justice Dunningham decided Barwell should remain in custody and remanded him to a district court case review hearing on September 19 on the charges of obtaining $91,850 by deception from an 82-year-old pensioner, and obtaining $220 paid to him as assistance from a Bishopdale church member.

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A man who threatened his partner with a machete while she was holding a young daughter, then self-harmed himself with a knife, was sentenced to prison in the Christchurch District Court today.

Twenty-eight-year-old Corey Jesse Waller arrived at his partner’s home drunk and angry on April 22. Her two young children were present when Waller followed her into her bedroom, and grabbed her by the throat.

She pushed his hand away, and he punched her in the face, and kicked her in the side of the face.

She went into the lounge where Waller came in holding a large machete. He screamed at her to stop crying, and put her daughter down, while holding the machete above his shoulder in a threatening manner.

When she refused to put her daughter down, he clubbed himself in the head with the handle of the machete and fell to the floor. When he roused himself, he took a small knife from the kitchen and stabbed himself in the chest.

Defence counsel Kiran Paima said Waller had a positive report from the restorative justice meeting he had with his former partner, and while in custody had completed rehabilitation programmes.

He said Waller’s partner did not need medical attention, and Waller only had minor injuries.

Judge David Saunders said he was sentencing Waller on charges of assault with intent to injure, threatening behaviour, and unlawful possession of a machete.

He said Waller was dependent on alcohol and drugs, and the incident was not a good example for the children to see violence in a relationship.

Judge Saunders issued a protection order for Waller’s partner, and said there was further work to be done for Waller’s rehabilitation.

He acknowledged Waller’s remorse and sentenced him to prison for 13 months, with a further six month’s special release conditions for him to be assessed for rehabilitation programmes for family violence, and alcohol and drug use.

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