A woman’s “error of judgment” leading to the death of a passenger in her car, brought a fine and driving ban in the Christchurch District Court.

Judge Alistair Garland said the family of Warren Allen did not want Oluwatoyin Afolabi, a 48-year-old care worker, further punished by the courts, as she had gone through enough. They also did not want to be paid any emotional harm payment.

Defence counsel Anselm Williams said Afolabi had attended a restorative justice meeting with the family of Mr Allen, and it had been very helpful for both parties.

He said the incident was a moment of unintentional confusion, which resulted in a tragic accident which had impacted everybody.

Afolabi had taken steps to get professional counselling, he said, and was on a working visa and hoped to be able to continue working in New Zealand.

Judge Garland said Afolabi had been charged with careless driving causing the death of Warren Allen.

She was a care worker who had Mr Allen as a passenger in her car.

On March 15, on Hasketts Road, Templeton, she was making a right hand turn into an address when she stopped for another NZ Care car to exit the driveway. When she started to drive into the driveway she failed to see a van travelling towards her, which collided with the left side of her car, and spun it 180 degrees.

Mr Allen was thrown against the inside panel of the van, and died the following day.

Judge Garland said it was important the public understood that it was an error of judgment, or mistake, that anyone could have made, but it had led to tragic consequences.

He convicted Afolabi, and fined her $500. He also disqualified her from driving for six months.

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The trial of two men for the shotgun murder of Bradley Alan Lomax is continuing with a jury of 11 after one juror was discharged on only the second day.

The trial is expected to last three weeks before Justice Cameron Mander in the High Court at Christchurch.

The start of the second day of the trial was delayed for nearly 90min because of discussions in chambers, and then Justice Mander apologised to the 11 jurors for the late start.

He told the jury: “Under the Juries Act I have the power to discharge a juror who, because of various reasons, is no longer capable of sitting on the jury.

“For a combination of reasons I have made the decision to discharge the juror. The trial will continue sitting as a jury of 11.”

Kasha William Gosset, 37, of Oxford, and Cody Derek Martin, a 31-year-old drainlayer from Mairehau, both deny the joint charges of murdering Bradley Alan Lomax at Kaiapoi on September 4, 2017.

The trial continued hearing evidence late morning from a woman who had been involved with all three of the men – the two murder accused, and Lomax. She said in evidence on Tuesday that Gosset had come to her home the day after the killing to tell her that “me and Cody” had killed Lomax.

The trial is continuing.

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A woman says she was brutally abused to make her take part in a three-month crime spree.

Antonia Deborah Ogilvie, also known as Rae, said she had been punched, kicked, and burned with cigarettes and drug utensils by a man who has already been sentenced as her co-offender.

She made a complaint to the police about the abuse, and gave DVD interviews about it after her arrest, while she was being held in custody.

Crown prosecutor Klaudia Courteney told Christchurch District Court Judge Paul Kellar that she had checked with the police who had investigated her complaint but closed the inquiry in October without a prosecution.

Defence counsel Rachel Wood said a doctor had examined Ogilvie and his report provided some corroboration of the abuse she talked about. She had no previous criminal convictions.

Judge Kellar said he was prepared to give the abuse claims “some weight” at the sentencing, because of the complaint she had made to the police. He also noted she had no previous convictions. “Had you not met him (the co-offender) you might not have been standing there today.”

He made an allowance for her acting “under duress or coercion or domination of the co-offender” when she committed some of the offending. She had admitted 21 charges, but the Crown pointed out that in 12 of the offences she had acted alone.

The 34-year-old has admitted four charges of obtaining accommodation at motels and leaving without paying, stealing items from the motels, theft of a car, and receiving a stolen car, burglary of a motel and a house from where she had been evicted, and a series of petrol thefts and drugs charges.

Judge Kellar said almost all the offending was planned and premeditated. Her offending caused losses and damage totalling about $30,000 and she was ordered to pay back more than $14,000 of it.

Ogilvie is unemployed and has been ordered to make the payments at $25 a week.

Judge Kellar made allowances for her “clean” record, her guilty pleas, and for 10 months spent on restrictive bail conditions, and decided that home detention could be allowed.

He put her on home detention in Christchurch, for 10 months with six months of special conditions to follow the completion of the sentence.

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A woman has denied a late night visit on the night of the killing of Bradley Alan Lomax from one of the men who is standing trial for the September 2017 murder.

She was questioned by defence counsel James Rapley QC about a series of calls to the phone of Cody Derek Martin about the time of the murder that evening.

The woman, who has name suppression, was giving evidence on the second day of the High Court trial before Justice Cameron Mander and a jury. She broke down in tears during the cross-examination and the court adjourned for a time.

Kasha William Gosset, 37, of Oxford, and Martin, a 31-year-old drainlayer from Mairehau, both deny the joint charges of murdering Lomax at the Waimakariri riverbed on September 4, 2017.

The woman had told of being involved with all three of the men – the pair charged with murder, and with Lomax. She said she and Lomax had argued the day before the killing, and that day she had threatened to change the locks at her address.

She said that Gosset – who she had taken methamphetamine with and had sex with two days before the killing – visited her at her house early on September 5, 2017. He had whispered in her ear that he had killed Lomax.

She said was terrified and played along with his “twisted fantasy” to get him out of the house. She said: “I did what I had to do to survive the situation, with my children at home.”

Mr Rapley asked her about phone records showing a series of calls to Martin’s phone on the evening of September 4, about the time the Crown said the three men were at the riverbed where Lomax was killed.

She said she had no recollection of the calls. They were short, as if they had gone to voicemail, or not been answered.

She denied Mr Rapley’s suggestion that Martin had visited her at her home late on the night of the killing. She said she had gone to sleep at 11.30pm, and woke next morning before Gosset’s visit.

She said Gosset had threatened to kill her and her children if she told about what he had said about the killing.

She was questioned about a text message later that day inviting Gosset back to her house for a late breakfast. She said it was a case of “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”. She wanted to make sure the safety of the family wasn’t at risk, she said.

Questioned by defence counsel for Martin, Josh Lucas, she acknowledged sending a text to Gosset about two hours before the killing, effectively saying “It’s over” and he should return to his partner.

She said that Lomax had been smoking a lot of methamphetamine, but she did not know if he had accumulated debts to the Tribesmen gang. He had been quite badly beaten up in August by members of the gang.

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Name suppression was granted to a 42-year-old Motueka woman charged with the murder of a five-month-old baby, when she appeared in the Christchurch District Court today.

The woman, who was meant to be assisted by an interpreter for the video-link court appearance, was remanded for another District Court appearance on March 14.

No bail application was made and she will be held in a secure facility at Hillmorton Hospital for a psychiatric screening and assessment.

The results of that assessment will be reported back to the District Court at next appearance, before the case may be referred to the High Court.

At the request of defence counsel Ruth Buddicom, Judge Paul Kellar granted suppression of the woman’s name, the victim’s name, and any relationship between the two.

The woman is alleged to have killed the child at Motueka on February 10.

Police said at the time that they had attended a house where they had found the baby dead and a woman with serious but not life-threatening injuries. The woman was taken to Motueka Hospital and from there to hospital in Christchurch.

She has remained in hospital until her appearance today. The health authorities provided a letter to the judge or today’s appearance.

The suppression orders were not opposed by the police, Miss Buddicom told the court.

The interpreter was not involved in today’s hearing, because an interpreter for the wrong language had been arranged, but one will be organised for the woman’s next appearance.

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Nine more charges have been laid against a 36-year-old woman who was already facing 35 charges relating to a stolen mail investigation.

Anna Leigh Hunter was charged in December and remanded without plea on 31 charges of dishonestly using credit cards in Christchurch, one of attempting to dishonestly use a credit card, two of receiving credit cards and being reckless about whether they were stolen, and one of possession of a pipe for smoking methamphetamine.

The police allege the offending took place from September to December.

She was remanded to today by a registrar, but in the meantime the police have laid two charges of dishonestly using $100 supermarket gift vouchers, three charges of stealing mail, and four charges of opening postal articles not addressed to her.

She did not appear before a judge at the Christchurch District Court today but was remanded by a registrar, without plea on all charges to appear again on March 22. She remains on bail.

Police said in a statement in December that they had found more than 70 pieces of stolen mail while executing a search warrant at a Diamond Harbour property.
The investigation followed months of reports of mail being taken, and a stolen credit card being used to buy groceries, cigarettes, alcohol, and petrol.

In December, the charges stated that Hunter was living at Diamond Harbour, but the latest charges say she is living in Waimakariri District.

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A woman’s benefit frauds over more than seven years clocked up overpayments totalling $208,945.

The Ministry of Social Development said it was not wanting the Christchurch District Court to order reparations payments when the 49-year-old pleaded guilty to 20 charges.

Instead, it has taken steps under the Social Security Act to recover money from the woman.

She admitted two charges of obtaining money by deception and 18 charges of dishonestly using a document – various forms she signed while receiving benefits from October 2008 to March 2016.

Judge Jane Farish remanded the woman on bail for sentencing on June 14, and granted interim name suppression for the court to consider an application for a discharge without conviction.

The court was told that the woman had gone onto the Domestic Purposes Benefit in 1992, but failed to tell the authorities she had obtained work from 2007.

She noted someone as her partner on her employment documents and inquiries showed that she had been living in a marriage-type relationship from 2008.

Social welfare staff then calculated overpayments totalling $208,945 from the domestic purposes benefit, sole parent support benefit, accommodation supplement, disability allowance, and temporary additional support.

When the woman was interviewed, she said she was aware of her obligations but had not told the department about her change of income and it was her own “stupid fault”. She acknowledged she was in a defacto relationship.

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A top-end benefit fraudster just avoided an early start to a jail term the judge described as “inevitable” for offending totalling $347,408, after asking for a second sentencing delay.
Pauline Urana Lowen, 71, a retired hospital worker, had her sentencing put off last year to sort out difficulties with a reparations offer because police had got an order to freeze her assets for possible seizure.
A week ago, she parted company with her second lawyer – the first one withdrew for health reasons – and a third lawyer, Linda Drummond was appointed.
Miss Drummond today asked for a further remand for sentencing because she had only just been assigned and wanted more time to prepare sentencing submissions and documents.
Judge Charles Blackie said: “I detect delaying tactics (by Lowen).” The charges dated back more than two years and Lowen had pleaded guilty six months ago, and a sentencing date in December was adjourned.
Lowen, who also goes by the surnames Mundy and Williams, had pleaded guilty to five charges including two representative charges covering dozens of individual offences. She admitted two charges of obtaining money by deception, two of dishonestly using a document, and one of using a forged document.
When she pleaded guilty in August, her lawyer asked for a long remand for sentencing so that the civil forfeiture proceedings brought by the police could be decided. The lawyer argued that she should be allowed to dispose of her property herself so that she could offer a substantial reparation payment at her sentencing.
The Ministry of Social Develment said she had received benefits she was not entitled to over 20 years. Inquiries showed that she began living in a marriage-type relationship, and married her partner in 1997. Her partner was employed and she was not entitled to the single rate of benefit.
She began work for the Canterbury District Health Board in 2008, but she was not detected by data matching by the Inland Revenue Department because she used a different IRD number for benefit purposes, and she used a different birth date.
Over 20 years, she submitted 49 forms to the MSD containing false details about her relationship status, her work, and her income and assets.
The main overpayments over the 20-year period were $113,524 for the invalid’s benefit, $68,454 for the accommodation supplement, and $61,207 for the domestic purposes benefit.
Judge Blackie considered whether bail should be granted for the further remand because he said: “The the sentence she would get is inevitable.”
Miss Drummond argued that Lowen should be readmitted to bail. There had been no breaches of her current bail terms and she had health issues, and had matters to sort out regarding reparation.
Judge Blackie told Lowen: “You have basically stolen $347,408 from the community which puts you at the upper range of benefit fraud cases. The inevitable sentence is going to be a custodial one.”
But he said Miss Drummond had persuaded him “by a narrow margin” to allow bail until Lowen’s sentencing which is now scheduled for May 10. He warned Lowen she would not get another remand.

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Three members of the Tribesman Outlaw Motorcycle Gang have admitted  being part of a Christchurch methamphetamine dealing ring turning over hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Andrew Michael Smith, 33, pleaded guilty to seven charges, Mark Powhiro, 33, pleaded guilty to four charges, and Paul Wayne Howard, 39, pleaded guilty to 11 charges in the Christchurch District Court.

The three men were remanded in custody for sentencing on June 19, and Smith and Powhiro asked to attend  restorative justice meetings if they were consented to by their victims.

The Crown summary of facts said Powhiro and Howard worked for Smith when the police were making their investigations, and all three were associated with the Tribesman Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.

On 2 October, 2017, the police started intercepting the private communications of Smith, and found he was  heavily involved in the sale and distribution of the Class A controlled drug, methamphetamine.

Between 2 October, 2017, and 27 November, 2017, he was regularly supplying meth to a number of people, arranged through cell phone calls and text messaging prior to being followed up with a meeting.

The customer would visit Smith or meet him elsewhere, and sometimes Smith would use his associates to go to the meeting.

Many of his customers would then on-sell the meth at a higher price making a profit for themselves, and he would extend credit to his customers so they could pay him after they had sold the drug and received their money.

Sometimes he would have considerable amounts of money owed to him, at times totalling over $372,000, the summary said.

He pleaded guilty to two representative charges of supplying methamphetamine, conspiring to possess methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, attempting to pervert justice by destroying evidence, false representation of a New Zealand passport, and a charge of grievous bodily harm with intent to injure after a prison yard fight.

He was read the first of the three strike warnings for repeat violent offenders for the fighting charge.

Powhiro pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine for supply, supplying methamphetamine, kidnapping,  and unlawful possession of a sawn-off shotgun.

Howard pleaded guilty to offering to supply meth, two charges of possession of meth for supply, possess meth, possession of two knives, three charges of failing to assist police, possession of a scoop and point bags, offering to supply meth, and possession of a pipe.

Smith’s mother, Connie Elizabeth Ross, 52, has pleaded not guilty to her charges and the case is heading for a trial. She faces methamphetamine charges, perverting the course of justice, and possession of a sawn-off shotgun.

Another man arrested in the same police raids, 34-year-old  Joshua Rangi Fahey pleaded guilty to supplying meth and was jailed for two years two months in February. At that sentencing, Judge Neave said the dealing had been more of a fraud than a drug deal because the meth was of such poor quality.

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No bail was sought for a 20-year-old facing two pistol charges who appeared in the Christchurch District Court after his arrest in Papanui on Sunday.

Police had been carrying arms while they searched for him over the last few days, but he was arrested without incident.

Treik Rakena Allen, a cabinet maker, who is listed as having no fixed abode in the central city, was remanded in custody to March 25, to appear again by video-link from the prison.

He entered no pleas to two charges of using a restricted weapon – a pistol – with intent to prevent the arrest of Tolo Maanaiama, who was shot by the police in another incident in Christchurch last week and remains in hospital.

The two charges against Allen allege offending on February 23, when police said shots were fired at two police cars.

Defence counsel Chris Nolan asked for the remand for Allen. He said no bail application was being made today but an application for his release on electronically monitored bail was likely to be made at a future appearance.

Judge Murray Hunt granted the remand, in custody, and said a media application to photograph Allen in court would be argued at the next appearance.

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A pathologist has accepted that murder victim Bradley Alan Lomax may also have been shot in the face with a .22 calibre weapon – a wound near his lip that was missed at the autopsy.

Consultant forensic pathologist Dr Martin Sage accepted responsibility. He told the jury on the fifth day of the murder trial in the High Court at Christchurch: “I have to take responsibility if I have failed to identify it.”

There was also a sign of a possible second .22 round, found inside the hood that Lomax was wearing when his body was found lying near Harrs Road, on a gravel track in the Waimakariri riverbed on September 4, 2017.

Shotgun pellets from four blasts were scattered through his leg, body, and in his face – his facial structure had been “demolished” by shots to both eye sockets.

Three shotgun cartridges had contained birdshot but the fourth – which struck the face – had contained a solid shot.

Kasha William Gosset, 37, of Oxford, and Cody Derek Martin, a 31-year-old drainlayer from Mairehau, both deny the joint charges of murdering Bradley Alan Lomax at Kaiapoi on September 4, 2017. They blame each other for Lomax’s killing.

Lomax was hit by blasts to the thigh, breaking his thigh bone, his upper arm which sent pellets into his chest striking his lung and heart, and blasts to each eye socket.

There was spent and unspent .22 ammunition nearby, in an area which was known for “fairly undisciplined shooting” of animals and targets, he said.

Dr Sage said a defence pathologist in Britain had supplied a report suggesting an injury near the right corner of the mouth which could be an entrance wound from a .22 rifle discharge. The scan showed a particle that did not appear to be an aggregation of shotgun pellets.

The other .22 bullet, found in the parka, might be a bullet from a .22 shot to the face which had been “displaced” by a subsequent shotgun blast.

“There is certainly one discharged .22 bullet, and there may well be two. The second one I failed to locate. Neither of these .22 discharges have contributed to his cause of death,” said Dr Sage.

He could not not give a definite order in which the shots had been fired.

The most logical interpretation was that Lomax had been shot in the leg, which had brought him down, and then shot in the side. Someone had then gone up close and finished him off with a shot in both eye sockets. “But it doesn’t have to have happened in that order,” he said.

Both shots to the eye sockets had been fired at close range. The wound to the left eye contained the plastic wad from the shotgun cartridge. There were no burn marks at the wound edges, but it was not possible to estimate the range without test firing the same weapon. This was outside his area of expertise.

Dr Sage has completed his evidence-in-chief and will be cross-examined by defence counsel on Tuesday morning.

The Crown is calling evidence from 37 witnesses in the trial, which will take more than two weeks.

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“Shall we kill Oliver?” Heath Eric Morris asked as a group drove to a Woodend property where he would bash his “friend” to death as he slept.

Morris, now aged 19, today admitted the murder of Oliver Johnston whose body was left in a paddock at the Jelfs Road property for a week in June 2018.

Justice Gerald Nation remanded him in custody for sentencing in the High Court at Christchurch on April 12. He asked for a pre-sentence report and victim impact statements.

Mr Johnston was aged 20 when the pair met at a fast food restaurant in Papanui, and then began socialising, and contacting each other by phone and social media.

On Saturday June 23, 2018, they arranged to meet at a party held in a paddock near a forest in Webbs Road, Amberley, that had been organised on Facebook.

They arrived independently about 7pm. From then until 1am, Morris drank 12 Woodstock bourbon and cola pre-mixed drinks.

Morris and one of his associates were involved in a confrontation with other party goers.

Morris, Mr Johnston, and three of their associates then decided to leave the party together, and four went in one car to the Jelfs Road property.

During the trip, Morris said to the associate sitting next to him, “Shall we kill Oliver?” He then said, “Bro, no-one’s going to miss him.” He repeated this about five times.

The group cooked a meal at the house and then went to the sleep-out. Morris and Mr Johnston played a video game together while the others went to sleep on a mattress. Mr Johnston then went to sleep in a sleeping bag.

Crown prosecutor Claire Boshier said: “The defendant has obtained a striking implement with a 30mm round-shaped end and struck the victim multiple times to the left side of his head and face.”

The force of these blows broke Mr Johnston’s skull in several places, and broke his jaw and cheek bone. The injuries were not survivable.

Morris removed the victim’s body and hid it in a paddock where he covered it with soil and grass.

Morris then went back inside and began cleaning up the floor and mattresses using a spray disinfectant and a cloth.

An associate woke and saw the blood. Morris told him he had “cracked Oli on the lip”. He said the victim had been pestering him for a turn on the Xbox, and that a friend had come and picked him up.

Later, he said he had “cracked him twice”.

Morris had breakfast with his family and his associate and then returned to the sleep-out to continue cleaning up the blood.

Mr Johnston suffered blows that broke and fractured bones in his skull, cheek-bone, upper jaw on the left side of his head, and from his eye to his ear. Part of the skull was broken away and found in the hood of his jacket.

Morris told police, “I haven’t done anything”, and declined to give them a formal interview.

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A sequence of shots from a shotgun and .22 rifle that struck Bradley Alan Lomax – from the account by murder accused Cody Derek Martin – has been accepted as “possible” by pathologist Dr Martin Sage.

According Martin’s description given to the police, the shooting began with him shooting Lomax in the leg with a shotgun at a gravel road along the Waimakariri Riverbed near Harrs Road on September 4, 2017.

He said co-accused Kasha William Gosset then shot Lomax several times in the head with a .22 rifle, and then took the shotgun and shot him in the arm and chest.

Gosset then shot him in both eyes with the shotgun.

During cross-examination at the High Court trial by Martin’s defence counsel, Kerryn Beaton, Dr Sage said that sequence of shots in a short time was “possible”, but he added: “If he was shot first in the leg, I am surprised at how little bleeding there was from that wound.”

Gosset, 37, of Oxford, and Martin, a 31-year-old drainlayer from Mairehau, both deny the joint charges of murdering Lomax. They blame each other for Lomax’s killing.

Dr Sage said Lomax was hit by shotgun blasts to the thigh, breaking his thigh bone, his upper arm which sent pellets into his chest striking his lung and heart, and blasts to each eye socket.

In his evidence-in-chief on Monday, Dr Sage was questioned about a defence pathologist’s evidence of another .22 calibre wound to the face, with remains of the bullet near the jaw, and another bullet found in the hoodie of Lomax’s jacket. He said it was possible this was another round that had struck Lomax and then been dislodged by the shotgun blast.

Today, Miss Beaton asked him about a scientist’s report of a .22 round with traces of blood and tissue found close to the body.

Dr Sage acknowledged it was possible that Lomax had been struck with at least two .22 rounds and possibly more.

The Crown is calling evidence from 37 witnesses in the trial, which is in its second week before Justice Cameron Mander and a jury in the High Court at Christchurch.

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Murder defendants Kasha William Gosset and Cody Derek Martin accused each other of firing the fatal shots in separate video interviews with the police after the killing of Bradley Alan Lomax.

Lomax was shot to death on the Waimakariri Riverbed near Kaiapoi on September 4, 2017, hit by .22 rifle shots and shotgun blasts according to the evidence of forensic pathologists.

The pair were found and interviewed about a week after the killing, each blaming the other for a killing the Crown described as an “execution” in its opening address to the trial in the High Court at Christchurch last week. Today was the trial’s seventh day before Justice Cameron Mander and a jury.

Gosset, 37, of Oxford, and Martin, a 31-year-old drainlayer from Mairehau, both deny the joint charge of murdering Lomax.

Justice Mander told the jury before each video was played that their statements and interviews could only be used as evidence against themselves, and the contents could not be considered in relation to the other defendant.

Detective Wayne Boyd, of the Canterbury Organised Crime Unit, said he had seen Martin in Christchurch Hospital where he was recovering from a dog bite wound to the leg which he had received at the time of his arrest at a Papanui property on September 9, five days after the shooting.

The detective returned two days later and recorded a video interview in the presence of Martin’s defence counsel, Josh Lucas.

Martin said he thought they were going to give Lomax a “rark up” over his treatment of a woman who had been seen with bruises on her face.

They picked him up and drove to the Waimakariri. Martin said Lomax was in the back seat, Gosset was driving, and he was in the passenger seat.

At the riverbed, they got out of the car and he thought they were going to give Lomax “a bit of a scare” but Lomax advanced towards him “with an angry face”. Martin said he did not know if the gun he was holding was loaded, but he pulled the trigger, hitting Lomax in the knee.

Gosset then fired a .22 Ruger semi-automatic into Lomax’s head. Lomax was still alive so Gosset then took the shotgun and fired two shots into Lomax’s head, reloading the gun in the process.

Before the interview began, Martin told him that Lomax had been using 1g to 2g of methamphetamine a day and owed the gangs about $30,000 in drug debts.

Martin also commented about Gosset: “He will be out of control. He thinks he’s the biggest man in Christchurch. Off his face.” He said that Gosset had previously said he wanted to kill Lomax, but he had thought he was joking.

Detective Timothy Sterne, of the Christchurch Criminal Investigation Branch, said he took custody of Gosset after he was apprehended at a motorcycle dealership in Christchurch on September 11. He was calm and talkative and said he wanted to talk to police about “important matters”. He described Lomax as “someone who bashed single mothers”.

At the police station, he conducted a two-hour video interview in which Gosset admitted taking part in the murder of Lomax.

Gosset began by saying Lomax was a “low level meth user and dealer” who preyed on women. “He was a total waste of space as far as I was concerned.”

Gosset said Martin had taken the shotgun and the .22 rifle on the drive to the Waimakariri. He and Lomax jumped out when he stopped the car to check the water. He said Martin had shot Lomax in the head a couple of times with the .22 and then shot him with the shotgun in the legs. Martin had then fired more shots with the .22 and then “finished him off” at almost point blank range with the shotgun.

He said: “I didn’t have any gun. Cody had the guns.”

The trial is continuing and is expected to finish next week.

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A gun-point dairy robber was always going to get caught – he wore no disguise and he was well known at the shop he robbed.

Christchurch District Court Judge Alistair Garland today praised he bravery of the woman shop assistant who refused to hand over the tobacco that 27-year-old Chaynce Te-Aowera Mafautauga Lene was demanding, even when he held a pistol on the counter, pointing at her.

The woman said: “When he was pointing the gun at me I was quite scared. He could have shot me because I refused to put the tobacco in the bag.”

Instead, Lene left the Avenue Dairy on Fitzgerald Avenue on May 19, 2018, with a bag containing chips, soft drinks, and ice creams, total value $22.

Judge Garland said the value of the robbery would have been higher without “the victim’s very brave response”.

The judge jailed Lene for three years 11 months when he sentenced him on nine charges: armed robbery, possession of a knife in a public place, possession of a methamphetamine pipe, drink-driving, breach of community work, driving while his licence was suspended for demerit points, and two breaches of bail, and a burglary.

Lene had admitted most charges, but was found guilty at a trial of being a party to a house burglary committed by a woman.

The trial was told that the Phillipstown household had been burgled by the woman because she believed the residents had taken money from her daughter’s bank account and wanted to teach them a lesson.

After the dairy robbery, Lene told the police he was “desperado – I wanted the smokes and had no money to pay for them”.

Defence counsel Rupert Glover said Lene was genuninely remorseful. He said Lene was never going to get away with the robbery because he had not worn a disguise “and he was well known at the dairy”.

Probation assessed him as a high likelihood of further offending. He did not express remorse but he accepted responsibility and was motivated to accept treatment. They recommended treatment to address his offending and poor decision making. His offending was seen as stemming from his meth use, supportive associates, and his “offending supportive attitude”.

Lene, whose mother was in court, has written an apology to the robbery victim, and Judge Garland said he had written a “thoughtful” letter to the court.

Lene said he had an “awesome” upbringing, but in recent years had become involved with methamphetamine. He said his addiction was the cause of his offending, but he had been too embarassed to admit the problem or ask for help.

Judge Garland imposed a series of sentences totalling 3 years 11 months’ jail, ordered him to pay reparation for the robbery and burglary, and disqualified him from driving for six months.

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A firelighter’s comment that she enjoyed her offending was described as “alarming” by her lawyer before the woman was jailed at a Christchurch District Court sentencing.

Repeat arsonist Angela Maree McDonald, 37, cried in the dock as the judge discussed her mental health condition – diagnosed as schizo-affective disorder – before sending her to prison for two years.

The prison term will mean that a comprehensive management plan can be prepared for her before she is released, with a current assessment that her risk of further firelighting is high.

McDonald has a 1998 conviction for the arson of a haybarn, and previous convictions for wilful damage.

In November, McDonald admitted a charge of arson for lighting a fire on the bed of a fellow patient at the Seager Clinic, at Princess Margaret Hospital, while she was out of her room on October 10.

The fire damaged the woman’s bed, bedside cabinet, and possessions. There was also smoke and water damage from the sprinklers. Damage totalled $6553, but no-one was hurt.

Defence counsel Tony Garrett said the potential consequences were extreme because there were people with disabilities in the clinic.

He said McDonald offended when she felt aggrieved or slighted. It was an anger management issue, but her gross over-reaction which was a real concern. Some of McDonald’s replies when questioned were alarming, he said. She had expressed enjoying her offending.

The pre-sentence report includes the probation officer’s assessment that McDonald was a low risk of further general offending but the risk of further firelighting was high.

Judge Garland said sentencing of offenders with mental health issues was a “vexed issue”, but health assessors said McDonald did not show symptoms of a current mental illness and there did not appear to be a link between her mental health and the arson offending.

She had a long history of contact with mental health services and was assessed as having an under-lying schizo-affective disorder. She had a “limited ability to emotionally self-regulate”, and a tendency to resort to damaging property, threatening behaviour, or fire setting. A psychologist said she needed to take responsibility for her behaviour.

The judge imposed a two-year jail term and said home detention would not be considered. He made no reparation order because there was no ability to pay it.

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Kasha William Gosset has given evidence blaming co-accused Cody Derek Martin and a woman for conspiring in the shooting murder of Bradley Alan Lomax.

The woman has name suppression in the trial before Justice Cameron Mander and a jury in the High Court at Christchurch.

Gosset gave evidence in his own defence on the eighth day of the trial, including an allegation under cross-examination that the woman had “put Martin up to killing Lomax”.

The defence counsel for Martin, Kerryn Beaton, then asked; “Are you saying that (the woman) and Cody Martin have conspired to kill Mr Lomax?”

Gosset replied: “One hundred percent.”

Miss Beaton: “I suggest that you have just made that up in the witness box right this moment.”

Gosset replied: “That’s not true.”

Miss Beaton suggested he had made it up because the allegation had not been put to the woman when she gave evidence at the trial.

During the cross-examination, Gosset called the woman a nasty name and commented on Miss Beaton’s ability as a lawyer. She continued with the questioning.

In evidence, Gosset said he knew nothing about what was going to happen to Lomax when the three men drove out to a remote stretch of Waimakariri Riverbed, near Kaiapoi, on September 4, 2017.

He told the eighth day of the trial in the High Court at Christchurch before Justice Cameron Mander and a jury that if he knew what Martin planned, “There is no way I would have allowed it to happen.”

He said Martin told him afterwards that he had killed Lomax because of his violence towards the woman who had been seen with bruises.

He also told the trial: “He knew that Lomax had a contract on his head and Cody wanted to collect it. He said if I told anyone I would be next. At the time, he had a pretty big team behind him.”

Gosset, 37, of Oxford, and Martin, a 31-year-old drainlayer from Mairehau, both deny the joint charge of murdering Lomax. They blamed each other for firing the fatal shots in their police interviews.

Lomax was found dead in the riverbed after being shot several times with a shotgun and a cut-down .22 rifle.

Gosset said that on the day of the killing, he had been driving Martin around while he collected money from people. He was extremely high on methamphetamine himself.

He said Martin arranged for them to pick up Lomax at the Bromley cemetery and they drove to the Waimakariri to collect money from someone and smoke some meth. There had been no previous discussion about what was happening. He had not known they were picking up Lomax.

When they stopped at the river, Lomax got out of the car and then Martin got out and shot him with the shotgun which he had taken there in a bag between his legs.

He said Martin then put the shotgun down and shot Lomax several times with the .22 cut-down rifle he pulled out of his jacket. He got closer and closer to where Lomax was lying as he fired. He then reloaded the shotgun and shot Lomax twice in the head.

Gosset said conversation described in evidence by a woman who said he confessed to the killing had not happened. He had kept taking a lot of methamphetamine every day after the shooting.

“It was the most hideous thing I have ever seen in my life and I felt horrible,” he said.

On the day of his arrest, almost a week after the shooting, he had taken a gram of methamphetamine, and he hadn’t had any sleep the night before. He had been “drugged out” at the time he give a video-interview to the police. “I can’t believe the police think that interview is useable in this setting,” he said.

“I most certainly never shot Bradley Lomax,” Gosset told the jury.

Counsel for Martin, Miss Beaton, suggested to Gosset that almost all of what he had said in evidence was lies.

He accepted that he had made comments to associates that he disliked people who sold cut methamphetamine, and thought they were “scum”. Police had recorded calls of him making these kind of comments.

He denied believing that Lomax was one of these people. He told police in his interview that he did not believe Lomax had enough meth to cut. He said Lomax owed him a drug debt of about $6000.

The trial is continuing and is expected to finish next week.

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Murder accused Kasha William Gosset blames listening to too much gangsta-rap for the threats to kill that he has been recorded making.

Gosset was being cross-examined on the ninth day of the murder trial in the High Court at Christchurch by defence counsel Kerryn Beaton who acts for the co-accused Cody Derek Martin, 31.

She asked: “Would you agree that threatening to kill people is something you used to say quite a lot?”

Gosset, 37, replied that he knew from an earlier exchange that there were police recordings of a lot of intercepted conversations in which he said “a lot of foolish things”.

He said he had been listening to a lot of gangsta-rap which often had lyrics about killing people.

“It’s fiction, not fact, like your case, Miss Beaton,” he said.

Asked again about his recorded conversations threatening to kill people, he said, “There’s no meaning behind it.”

The pair deny charges of murdering Bradley Alan Lomax who was shot to death at the Waimakariri Riverbank near Kaiapoi on September 4, 2017. They say they were present but blame each other for the murder.

The killing occurred on a day when the pair had been driving around collecting drug debts and sharing methamphetamine.

Gosset denied Martin’s account of shooting Lomax in the leg with a shotgun, and then Gosset shooting him in the head with a .22 cut-down rifle and then taking the shotgun and shooting Lomax in the arm and head.

“That’s definitely not true,” he said.

Gosset said he had been high on methamphetamine when he gave his video-interview with the police and the recording should have been ruled inadmissable as evidence.

He repeated that he had no knowledge that the murder was going to happen.

The trial before Justice Cameron Mander and a jury will continue into next week.

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Police want $58,000 reparations from two women involved in stripping household gear from Christchurch rental properties that had been booked online.

One of the women, 36-year-old Terangimarie O-Te-Arohuni Jury, bit the police officer who finally caught up with her at the scene of a two-night rental property that had been cleaned out in Head Street, Sumner.

The two admitted a series of charges at the Christchurch District Court today and have been remanded for sentencing on May 15.

Samadhi Kalita Lucas, 31, remains in custody after both women admitted two burglary charges and five charges of receiving property stolen from the rentals. Jury also admitted assaulting the officer.

Judge Paul Kellar ordered pre-sentence reports on both women and an assessment for home detention suitability for Jury, who is on electronically monitored bail.

Lucas has been in custody on remand and remains in custody for sentencing. Defence counsel David Stringer said it was hoped she might have effectively served her jail sentence by the time of her sentencing.

Crown prosecutor Deirdre Elsmore said all the properties involved were furnished short-term rentals managed by property management companies. They were booked through the Booking.com or Bookabach websites. Both websites allow prospective tenants to view photographs of properties and make bookings.

The common practice is to have a combination lock box installed which contains a key to the property. Once a booking has been paid, the tenant is given the combination to get the key.

The women admitted receiving property stolen from a house in Clarence Street, Riccarton, which lost household items and a barbecue.

Lucas admitted burglary for taking household items worth more than $1000 from a property booked in Charlesworth Street, Woolston, in May 2018.

A few weeks later, Jury and others cleaned out property worth $32,000 from a rental in Huntsbury. Items worth $3479 were found at Lucas’ address.

A large amount of furniture and whiteware was removed from a rental in Picton Avenue, Riccarton, between May 22 and 26, 2018. Items were found at both women’s addresses.

A few days later, a large amount of furniture, whiteware, kitchen utensils, and personal items were taken from properties in Barbadoes Street and Queens Avenue, Fendalton.  Items were found at both women’s houses.

In June, an unknown person rented a property in Head Street, Sumner, before Jury and Lucas removed furniture, pictures, and bedding. The total value was $24,000 and $1140 worth of it was found at Lucas’ address.

While police were inside the house, the women drove up in a car. Lucas stayed in the car while Jury went into the property. While she was moving a couch on the porch, a detective walked up behind her, put his hand on her shoulder and told her she was under arrest.

Jury tried to flee and the detective grabbed her around the neck and shoulder. The struggled spilled into the front yard where she bit his arm. She was yelling for help and trying to climb a fence. She was restrained when another officer arrived. The detective was left with abrasions and a bite mark which punctured the skin on his arm.

Jury also admitted receiving a stolen trailer and lawn mower that were found at her property.

The police want reparation of $44,484 from Jury, and $13,064 from Lucas.

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A 33-year-old man charged over a police shooting incident in the Christchurch suburb of Richmond two weeks ago was remanded to April 1 when his case was called in the Christchurch District Court.

Tolu Maanaiama, of Woolston, remains in hospital after being shot by the police during the incident on February 26, in Evelyn Cousins Avenue.

The alleged exchange of fire took place after a chase which ended with a car being spiked.

Maanaiama did not appear at the sitting but his defence counsel Rupert Glover asked for the remand in hospital without plea on five charges.

He is charged with failing to stop for the police in incidents on Ferbuary 23 and 26, unlawfully carrying a shotgun, assaulting a police officer by using a car as a weapon, and using a firearm against a member of the police.

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