Two screwdriver stabbing attacks have led to a man being jailed for five years in the Christchurch District Court.

Christopher Charles Mohi, a 38-year-old Northcote labourer, was sentenced on two charges of injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and one of unlawfully taking a car.

A drunk Mohi attacked the first man in his home in New Brighton on April 24 after accusing him of having a relationship with Mohi’s ex-partner. He stabbed him with the screwdriver 20 times in the face, neck, and body.

Mohi was calmed down and taken from the address by a second man, who drove him away in the first victim’s car.

On the way Mohi used a backhand motion to strike his second victim with the screwdriver 10 times, before the man deliberately crashed the car, and ran from it.

Mohi drove away, then abandoned the car outside St Bede’s College, Redwood.

Defence counsel Tony Garrett said both victims declined to write a victim impact statement, and he was not aware of any permanent injury to either of them.

He said Mohi had got broody while intoxicated, but had written letters to both victims apologising for the attacks.

Judge Raoul Neave read Mohi the first of the three strike warnings for repeat violent offenders, and said the victims did not want to attend a restorative justice meeting with Mohi.

He said Mohi had an unfortunate history of offending, including 10 offences involving violence or threatening behaviour.

The violence was an extreme revenge attack, including to the victim’s head, and in his home, and the second attack was unprovoked, he said.

He sentenced Mohi to five years in prison, but acknowledged he had already been in prison for nearly a year.

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A man has admitted seven charges arising from a dangerous high-speed chase across North Canterbury last month.

Police abandoned the pursuit of Kyle James Clarke, 23, amidst heavy traffic in North Canterbury, but eventually a police dog handler caught him at a property in Woolston.

Clarke, of Geraldine, pleaded guilty at the Christchurch District Court to unlawfully taking a car, recklessly driving it on the Northern Motorway, failing to stop for police, driving while forbidden, entering an enclosed yard, intentionally damaging a fence, and being found unlawfully in a building. He also admitted unlawfully entering a shed on another date.

Defence counsel Colin Eason said Clarke was willing to attend a restorative justice meeting with the people he had affected with his offending.

Judge Simon Menzies remanded Clarke in custody for sentencing on November 4. He asked for a pre-sentence report with a home detention report be prepared for then.

The police summary of facts said on September 15, at 6am, Clarke was at a property on Ashbys Road in Amberley.

With an associate, he entered an enclosed shed and drove off on a four-wheel motorcycle. They abandoned it on Harleston Road, Sefton.

They entered a property on Harleston Road where they were found by the owner. She took them to the Waikuku petrol station where the owner of the motorcycle saw them and tussled with Clarke.

Clarke ran down a driveway and found a car unlocked with the keys in the ignition. He drove it on State Highway One where police spotted him. They chased him and saw him driving on the wrong side of the road in heavy traffic, and passing other road users on the left.

Police abandoned the chase, but Clarke continued to drive at speed, passing cars in the face of oncoming traffic. He performed a U-turn and headed along Lineside Road, and at the intersection with the Northern Motorway he crossed the centre line and drove through a red light.

Clarke entered the north bound off ramp to Lineside Road and drove into the path of oncoming traffic, crossed both lanes of the northbound motorway into oncoming traffic, and drove over a grass strip in to the south-bound lane.

He continued on to Belfast weaving in and out of traffic and making erratic lane changes, and exited the motorway near Chaneys Corner

Clarke drove down a high grass bank and on to Marshland Road, travelling at high speed to New Brighton, where he drove across Rawhiti Domain, and then south on the grass verge of the estuary.

Along Dyers Road he approached extensive road works at speed, swerving around other road users and scattering road cones.

He drove through a wooden fence at Forest Hill Place, and through a small reserve, then abandoned the car on Cob Crescent, where a police dog handler tracked him to a garage.

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The police say cash deposits totalling $260,695 into the bank accounts of Hugh James Robinson’s health food and supplements business were from unknown sources and not from shop sales.

The evidence was given by Melanie Van der Pol, a financial analyst with the police’s Financial Crime Group, who said she was familiar with money laundering techniques and investigations.

She said she had analysed the bank accounts of 61-year-old Robinson and his business, High Performance Health, in Sydenham.

She said she had been to the business’ small shop in Carlyle Street when the police conducted a series of searches at the end of their Operation Nebraska investigation in October 2013.

She told the fourth day of Robinson’s trial on class C drugs charges before Judge Alistair Garland and a jury in the Christchurch District Court that she had analysed 57 months of banking records.

She found that the business conducted most sales at the shop by eft-pos, which did not generate cash. Daily sales sheets recording sales at the shop were found, and she had examined those.

Over the period she examined, there were cash deposits of $616,049 into the company’s bank account. She told the jury: “Of all these cash deposits to High Performance Health, I would consider that $260,695 of those are from unknown sources of funds and not from shop sales.”

She said there appeared to be “co-mingling” of money with the business’ legitimate finances to give the appearance of a legitimate source of the funds. This was a money laundering technique.

She said the accounts also showed deposits totalling $115,220, all made in cash by Robinson, which were listed as loans or loan repayments from his wife. Her accounts showed she had little funds and there were no cash withdrawals which corresponded to these deposits by Robinson.

It appeared Robinson was “structuring” his deposits to avoid the banks’ requirements under the anti-money laundering measures, to report suspicious cash deposits of more than $10,000. She described deposits being made for smaller amounts, at different branches, on the same day.

Robinson denies charges of conspiracy to sell the class C drug BZP, four charges of possessing the drug for sale, and unlawful possession of the sawn-off shotgun and 115 twelve-gauge shotgun shells.

The Crown has said the locations searched in Christchurch included Robinson’s home in Riccarton, his car, his health product business in Carlyle Street, Sydenham, and a lock-up he rented in Russley Road. The class C drugs were found at each place, and a sawn-off shotgun and ammunition was found at the lock-up.

Crown prosecutor Deidre Orchard told the trial on Monday that the police found between 6000 and 8000 doses of party pills – benzyl piperazine, which was made illegal in 2008 – which had a street value of between $180,000 and $240,000. At a wholesale level, it would have been worth up to $56,000.

Cross examined by defence counsel Richard Maze, Miss Van der Pol accepted that she had not done an analysis of the business’ stock or stock records. She was aware that the business was a manufacturing business. She believed it manufactured the products it sold.

Mr Maze said her opinion was based on the premise that the business’ daily sales records were a complete and wholly accurate record of its transactions.

She accepted that the reason she said the cash deposits were suspicious was because she could not marry them up with sales.

The cross-examination will continue on the fifth day of the trial.

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The victim of a car-park attack was punched and badly injured when he had his hands up indicating he didn’t want to fight, the police say.

The attacker, Benjamin Paul Conner, 21, is now on bail pending sentencing on November 28 after admitting a charge of injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at the Christchurch District Court today.

Conner’s victim – one of two brothers aged 19 and 21 who were attacked in a car park off St Asaph Street in central Christchurch – received a fractured skull, brain bleed, and lost teeth.

Police described the assault at the time as “cowardly”. They said today that the victim had his hands up indicating he was not going to fight when he received a knock-out punch by Connor.

Conner was one of two men allegedly involved in the incident about 1am on August 7. It began with a verbal exchange and then became physical.

Once the victim was struck in the face and collapsed, members of the public administered CPR.

Conner told the police he struck the blow because he thought his companion was being assaulted by multiple attackers.

Conner’s associate has pleaded not guilty to two assault charges and is due to appear at a case review hearing next week.

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Artworks by Picasso and Salvador Dali will be cited by drug deal accused Hugh James Robinson as the source of some of the cash deposits the police have described as suspicious at his Christchurch District Court trial.

The revelation was made during cross-examination of a police financial analyst on the fifth day of the trial before Judge Alistair Garland a jury.

Defence counsel Richard Maze spent hours questioning the witness, Melanie Van der Pol, and made the nature of 61-year-old Robinson’s defence clear.

Robinson denies charges of conspiracy to sell the class C drug BZP – party pills – as well as four charges of possessing the drug for sale, and unlawful possession of the sawn-off shotgun and 115 twelve-gauge shotgun shells.

The Crown has said the locations searched in Christchurch included Robinson’s home in Riccarton, his car, his health product business in Carlyle Street, Sydenham, and a lock-up he rented in Russley Road. The class C drugs were found at each place, and a sawn-off shotgun and ammunition was found at the lock-up.

The police have analysed cash deposits by Robinson for his accounts and for his business, High Performance Health, which they said was selling health food and supplements from a small shop in Sydenham. The analyst $260,695 paid into the accounts in cash by Robinson was “from unknown sources”. She assessed it as being money laundering.

But after her evidence, Mr Maze cross-examined her about possible sources of the cash that she had not considered, in her examination of bank accounts, shop sales records, and other documents.

He asked her if she was aware that Robinson’s company had been manufacturing and selling synthetic cannabis at a time when it was still legal. She did not know that.

She had not looked at the business in terms of its stock or manufacturing records.

She had noted that cash deposits had dropped markedly from March 2013.

Mr Maze said this coincided with Robinson’s decision to cease manufacturing synthetic cannabis. He had told the police of this decision in an interview recorded on DVD and played to the trial.

Miss Van der Pol had also pointed out cash transactions totalling $115,200 that were marked in the bank records as loans or loan repayments from Robinson’s wife Svetlana Robinson.

Mr Maze put it to the witness that she had not considered that Mrs Robinson made trips to Russia and brought back cash and assets that were then sold for cash.

Among the assets was “a Picasso that sold for quite a lot of money in cash”, said Mr Maze.

Another was an artwork by the surrealist painter Salvador Dali which also sold for cash, to a buyer whose name was given in court but was then suppressed.

Miss Van der Pol said it was interesting that they had been sold for cash.

After being told who bought the Dali, she said: “It might be interesting where he gets his cash from.”

The trial has been running for five days. It will resume on Monday.

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A 61-year-old Christchurch man has blamed his son – who has already served a jail term for drug dealing – for the party pills police found in a series of raids that ended their Operation Nebraska investigation in 2013.

Bags of the BZP pills, which were banned in 2008, were found when the police several locations including Hugh James Robinson’s address, car, and a lock-up he rented.

The Crown spent all last week presenting its evidence that Robinson was in possession of party pills and powder that would have been worth up to $240,000 if it had been sold on the streets, and that his High Performance Health business in Sydenham was regularly receiving unexplained cash deposits by Robinson into its bank account.

The defence began presentation of its case today on the sixth day of the trial before Judge Alistair Garland a jury in the Christchurch District Court.

Robinson denies charges of conspiracy to sell the class C drug BZP, four charges of possessing the drug for sale, and unlawful possession of the sawn-off shotgun and 115 twelve-gauge shotgun shells.

Defence counsel Richard Maze told the jury several defence witnesses would be called, including Robinson, and his son Jamie Daniel Robinson, 29.

Mr Maze told the trial that High Performance Health had previously destroyed substances as required, by burning them on a North Canterbury farm.

When the time came to dispose of the remaining BZP pills, Hugh Robinson had asked Jamie to take them to North Canterbury and destroy them.

“That young man, who had just been given a fairly large quantity of a popular recreational drug, didn’t do it, but he hid this from his father. His father really had no reason to think it hadn’t been done until years later when the police came and searched the properties.”

Jamie Robinson had kept it for years, used it, shared it with friends, and sold some of it. He bought his own pill press and started making short runs of pills at the business when his father was not around. “And largely, he lived it up,” said Mr Maze.

Jamie Robinson had also accepted the shotgun and ammunition found at the lock-up, as payment for a drug debt.

Later, it was Jamie who sold BZP to a Wellington man who had other dealings with the health food and supplements firm. Then pills were exchanged for methamphetamine, which Jamie sold behind his father’s back.

Mr Maze said Hugh Robinson did not go to the lock-up in Russley Road where some of the drugs were found, but Jamie did.

Hugh eventually found pills that his son had hidden in his garage. He took some of them to his office, thinking they must have been ones he had manufactured legally years before, intending to use them himself. He had no intention to sell them.

The company had manufactured synthetic cannabis when it was legal, but had eventually decided to stop that. Other money had come from cash and goods brought back from Russia on trips by Hugh Robinson’s wife, Svetlana, which had then been sold. This had included artworks by Picasso and Salvador Dali. They had been sold for cash, which had been paid into the business’ account.

Mr Maze said Jamie Robinson had eventually pleaded guilty to drug charges and had been sentenced to a jail term. He was now out on parole.

Hugh Robinson’s trial is continuing.

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A man who used a cell phone in a shopping basket to take pictures up women’s dresses was jailed for 20 months in the Christchurch District Court today.

Maurice Hemi Williams, 32, had admitted making an intimate visual recording of four women, but only one of his victims had been identified.

Defence counsel Stephanie Blake said Williams did not have a home detention address and knew he would be staying in prison. He had been in custody since April.

She acknowledged his offending had a strong public interest factor, and infringed on the personal privacy of the general public.

She said the offending was premeditated, and people should be able to be in public and not have their rights breached.

Williams told her he thought he would be able to get some money for loading the images on-line, and was not using them for sexual gratification.

Williams had also breached a protection order, and a former supervision sentence.

Judge Gerard Winter said Williams was in a Christchurch supermarket on October 7, 2015, when he placed his cell phone in a shopping basket and moved it under the dress of a female.

He offended again twice in a supermarket on November 1, and on December 12 he was caught by a private security contractor in the Northlands shopping centre.

Judge Winter said the public had an expectation of privacy, and the victim impact report of the one woman identified said she was shocked, felt violated and taken advantage of, and did not feel comfortable shopping any more.

He said Williams had offended this way before in 2011 when he was jailed for a year.

The judge today sentenced him to 20 months in prison, with six months of post release conditions when he must he undertake any rehabilitation programme or treatment recommended by his probation officer, and he cannot possess a mobile phone that is capable of taking photographs.

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A judge has called for more camera technology to be used to improve the safety of big trucks and their massive blind spots, at a sentencing for a Christchurch cycle death.

Christchurch District Court Judge Gary MacAskill said he hoped the issue would be considered at the inquest that would be held into the death of Taiwanese cycle tourist Ming-Chih Hsieh who was crushed by a truck.

The cyclist had been in the blind spot to the immediate left of the articulated truck driven by  David Peter Connell, 51, who was convicted in June at a judge-alone trial on a charge of careless driving causing death.

The judge who found him guilty after hearing the evidence said he recommended that the coroner investigate whether camera technology now available should be installed in trucks to eliminate dangerous blindspots.

“If something good can come out of this, it might be that cameras be made available on vehicles on this kind,” said the judge.

He said his own car, did have a camera installed.

Connell was given community detention and ordered to do 200 of community work for his second fatal cycle crash.

Through defence counsel Kerry Cook, Connell apologised to the victim’s family for the loss of their son. He said Connell would have liked to speak to them directly over Skype, to express that apology, but they had understandably declined – as was their right.

Connell had not been aware of the particular cultural factors involved until he was given the family’s victim impact statement to read on the day of the sentencing.

Mr Cook said Connell offered the family $7000 for losses and emotional harm reparations, which he had raised through a loan and some savings. It was a significant sum for a man with no great means, who was not working at present.

The judge found him guilty at a judge-alone trial in June, which heard how Connell’s large articulated truck had crushed the cyclist as it made a left turn at the Carmen Road-Waterloo Road intersection in Hornby, on September 29, 2014.

Mr Hsieh, 33, had been riding in a cycle lane on the left side of the vehicle. A vehicle inspector told the trial that poor visibility through the left hand side window because of the dirt and grime, and the fact that the indicator lights on both the trailer units were not working may have been contributing factors to the crash.

The cyclist had remained in the “blind zone” around the tractor unit.

Judge MacAskill found that Connell had failed to recognise that he had to check, wait, and give way to cyclists in a cycle lane going straight ahead on his left. He found that the cyclist was not “contributorily negligent” in failing to take reasonable care to protect himself when there was a risk that the truck driver might not give way to him.

Connell was responsible for an earlier cycle death after he crashed a truck into Stephen Craig Avery on State Highway 1 on the Kapiti Coast in 2005. Connell admitted a charge of careless driving causing Mr Avery’s death. He was ordered to pay $2000 to the victim’s widow and disqualified from driving for nine months. 

At today’s sentencing, Judge MacAskill said the accident had been a disaster for Mr Hsieh’s parents. He would not be able to support them in their old age, as would have been expected.

He acknowedged that the tragedy had also had an effect on Connell from the outset. Connell had told the probation officer at his pre-sentence interview that his remorse “eats away at me every day”.

He sentenced Connell to community detention for four months at an address in Darfield, 200 hours of community work, disqualification from driving for a year, and payment of the $7000 of reparations.

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A man who police allege caused the death of Noel Cruza Campilan in June by his careless driving has pleaded not guilty to the charge in the Christchurch District Court.

Michael Joseph Johnsen, 58 from Lake Grassmere in Marlborough, is a heavy truck-tanker driver. He represented himself in court to enter his plea.

It is alleged his truck and trailer collided with Mr Campilan’s ute on State Highway 1 at Greta Valley on Queen’s Birthday weekend.

Judge Tony Couch remanded Johnsen for a case review hearing on December 5.

Johnsen told the court that the police had provided him with their disclosure today.

The crash, which killed the 46-year-old father of two, occurred on State Highway 1, about one km south of Scargill Valley Road about 6.15pm on Saturday June 4. He was the sole occupant of the ute.

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A man accused of taking a car with a family dog inside has been remanded in custody at the Christchurch District Court.

Ashley Lyle Scarlett, 26, was remanded without plea to appear at court by video-link from the prison on October 31.

Judge Brian Callaghan heard the bail application put forward by defence counsel Lee Lee Heah but refused bail for the two-week remand.

Scarlett is accused of a burglary, and unlawfully taking two cars.

One of the cars was allegedly taken from Waimairi Road in Ilam early this month, with the German shepherd Diego inside.

After a flurry of activity on social media, Diego was found by a member of the public after being let out of the car. He was found in Chatswood Place, Bishopdale, but the car remained missing at that time.

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When a charge of assault using a chicken as a weapon came up, it sounded like it was going to be one of court’s funny moments. It wasn’t.

Even experienced Judge Stephen O’Driscoll said he had never seen a charge like that.

But then defence counsel Kiran Paima described the crime scene as a backyard “bloodbath”.

The Christchurch District Court was told about an incident on July 28 which involved nothing but victims – except perhaps for one out-of-control dog.

Before the court was Sean Brian Unwin, a 49-year-old solo dad from Christchurch’s suburb of Richmond, who took great pride in the flock of chickens that lived in his yard.

A builder arrived to work on the property next door. His dog escaped from his car, jumped the fence, and took to the chickens.

Unwin then arrived and found the scene of carnage. Mr Paima said Unwin’s family including his grand daughter were upset and “there was a bloodbath in the back yard.”

There was a heated exchange of words with the dog’s owner, and then it got physical with Unwin brandishing a dead chicken, and hitting him with it.

The police originally charged Unwin with assault using a chicken as a weapon, and using some very robust offensive language.

Only a few days after the incident, the dog owner wrote a letter saying he didn’t want Unwin prosecuted, and he was sorry about the loss of the chickens. He accepted that he didn’t have his dog under effective control.

Meanwhile, Unwin appeared in court where he pleaded not guilty and was remanded for a case review hearing. Away from the courts, negotiations were under way.

By the time the case arrived at that case review hearing, police prosecutor Sergeant Jeff Kay agreed that there was some wriggle room available on the charges.

He told Judge O’Driscoll that the police would agree to make it an ordinary assault charge – taking poultry pummeling out of the charge, but leaving it as part of the facts – and dropping the offensive language charge.

He also said the police didn’t think any penalty was warranted, and Unwin then pleaded guilty to the assault charge.

Judge O’Driscoll then considered the facts of the case and decided that Unwin would be convicted and ordered to come up for sentence in six months if called upon.

He noted that the two men regretted what had occurred, and had effectively sorted it out between them, so no restorative justice meeting would be held.

“Nothing I can say or do can change what has occurred,” said Judge O’Driscoll. “The victim has apologised for what happened. It was unintentional, but it did happen, and you over-reacted.”

“Yes, I did,” Unwin agreed.

“I hope you will both now be able to put this behind you,” said the judge.

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File image. © Andrew Bardwell

Two people who admitted plotting to “roll” an unknown drug dealer were jailed in the Christchurch District Court.

They had admitted charges of conspiring to commit the aggravated robbery of a victim the police have never been able to identify.

The court was told that police had begun a covert electronic investigation into 38-year-old Russell Stafford Ricardo Harris, and were intercepting his private communications.

On April 7, 2016, 22-year-old Paula Hardaker phoned Harris to tell him she had a male wanting to purchase drugs worth $12,000.

They decided they were going to rob the victim of his money, and Hardaker was to arrange for him to be at her address, inside the living room.

Once Hardaker had seen the money she would contact Harris who would come in and commit the robbery.

For some reason the victim did not turn up, and Hardaker and Harris were picked up by police in a car on Main South Road. A pistol was found in the car.

Defence counsel for Harris, Ethan Huda, said Harris told the probation report writer that his offending was only against people who led a similar lifestyle to him.

Judge Stephen O’Driscoll said he was sentencing Harris on a charge of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, unlawful possession of a pistol, and possession of a Samurai sword in a public place on December 29.

He said the offending was premeditated, and as his risk of harm was not diminishing, and there was no reduction in his offending, he sentenced Harris to two years six months’ prison, and ordered the destruction of the sword.

Hardaker was caught up in an unfortunate position, and had decided to rid herself of negative influences in her life, her defence counsel Allister Davis said.

She was determined to deal with her drug addiction which was the catalyst for this offending, he said.

Judge O’Driscoll said Hardaker had been caught in a methamphetamine addiction, and was with the wrong crowd.

He sentenced her on conspiracy to commit an aggravated robbery, and unlawful possession of a pistol, to 13 months’ prison, with special release conditions for six months to take any counselling or treatment recommended by her parole officer to address her drug addiction.

He put off sentencing her on a receiving charge, where she had tried to sell stolen jewellery on Trade Me, and remanded her on bail to January 25, when he said he would impose a 12 months’ intensive supervision sentence so she will be under monitoring for longer.

A third person who was originally charged with conspiracy to commit the robbery, Grant Campbell Flood, a 31-year-old drainlayer, was granted a discharge without conviction after a separate hearing on Tuesday.

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A juror was sobbing and in tears in the jury box as guilty verdicts were delivered against 61-year-old Hugh James Robinson on the 12th day of his Christchurch District Court jury trial on BZP and firearms charges.

Judge Alistair Garland told the jury that they had “obviously applied themselves diligently” in considering the allegations of possession and conspiring to deal in party pills worth $240,000 on the street.

“I know it is very difficult, stressful, and can be a very unpleasant duty,” said the judge, as the juror continued to sob and was given tissues by a Corrections officer.

Judge Garland asked Crown prosecutor Deidre Orchard for Robinson’s criminal history, and then told the jury that he had been convicted in 1992 for cultivating cannabis and importing LSD and had been imprisoned for seven years six months.

That was apart from a conviction for possession of BZP – party pills which were declared illegal in 2008 – which they had heard about during the trial.

Robinson had denied charges of conspiring to sell the class C drugs, possession of them at his house, business premises, storage unit, and car, and possession of a sawn-off shotgun and ammuniton at the storage unit in Russley Road.

He said his son Jamie Daniel Robinson, 29, had been responsible for the drugs. Jamie Robinson has served a jail term for his drug offending.

Hugh Robinson said he had originally thought the pills had been left-over when his company, High Performance Health, stopped their production.

He also gave evidence explaining a series of cash transactions into his bank accounts as being related to synthetic cannabis sales at a time when it was still legal, and from sales of assets and artworks – including works by Picasso and Salvador Dali – which his wife Svetlana Robinson had brought back from Russia.

The jury rejected all the explanations with a clean sweep of guilty verdicts only about 2hrs 30min after it retired at the end of the judge’s summing up.

Judge Garland called for a pre-sentence report and remanded Robinson in custody for sentencing on November 16.

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An Australian has admitted obtaining more than half a million dollars by deception from two Christchurch residents and accepts he is going to be serving jail time.

Daniel Kive Albert pleaded guilty to the charge by video-link from Auckland, and was convicted by Christchurch District Court Judge Jane Farish at a court session in Christchurch. Another charge was withdrawn.

The judge remanded him on bail for sentencing on December 21, when he is also likely to appear by video-link from Auckland.

Defence counsel Fletcher Pilditch told Judge Farish that Albert would be unable to pay any reparation to the victims and it was pointless considering home detention because he had no address available.

“He is realistic about the outcome and just wants to get on with things,” said Mr Pilditch.

He said Albert was an Australian and his family and friends were in Australia. He had been arrested late in 2015 when he came to New Zealand for a weekend and had been in the country ever since.

He today admitted an amended charge that between September 2007 and August 31, 2008, “at Christchurch and elsewhere”, he obtained $537,000 from a Christchurch man and woman by deception.

Crown prosecutor Claire Boshier said the two victims did not wish to attend a meeting with Albert, so Judge Farish did not refer the matter for restorative justice. She ordered a pre-sentence report.

It is alleged that Albert conned the victims out of the money after running advertisements offering exclusive rights for energy drink vending machines. Some of the machines were supplied.

Albert is also known as Daniel Erefor and Daniel Allert.

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File image. © Andrew Bardwell

A judge has rejected a plea by Paul William Abbott, calling him “an out-and-out conman” and jailing him for nine months.

“You, I suspect, would have difficulty lying straight in bed,” Judge Allan Roberts told 33-year-old Abbott at his Christchurch District Court sentencing on two charges of obtaining money from women by deception.

Abbott’s defence counsel David Stringer made the plea for him to be kept out of prison, so that he could keep his job, pay reparation to the victims, and maintain his relationship with another woman who is expecting his child next year.

He has been in that relationship for about six months, while facing charges relating to two women he met and conned earlier this year, after meeting them through an internet dating site.

Judge Roberts said he had now been told of Abbott being in relationships with three women over about six months.

“I can’t put any stock in any relationship this man forms. He’s an out-and-out conman,” said the judge.

A woman spoke of her and her daughter being “destroyed” by the offending by Abbott, who formed a three-week relationship with her. The relationship cost her $940 plus other expenses at a time when she was unemployed. She had to borrow money and the offending had “destroyed me and my daughter, emotionally, mentally, and financially”. Her daughter was now in counselling because of the way Abbott treated her.

“There is so much pain and hurt and anger, sadness and stress associated with his actions,” the woman told the court.

Mr Stringer said Abbott was working and paying existing reparations at $50 a week. He had now been drug-free for 11 weeks. He had taken steps to deal with the drug problem that was clearly behind the offending.

He was in a relationship and due to become a father next year. He had told his lawyer that he “doesn’t wish to mess that up” by letting the child down.

Abbott has a history of deceiving people he contacts online and has served a two year seven month jail term imposed for that type of offending in 2012.

The 33-year-old pleaded guilty in June to charges of obtaining money by deception from two women he met on an internet dating site. He had told one that he needed money to pay for medication for a brain tumour, and told the other he needed funds for truck repairs and to contribute to the family of his best friend who had died of blood poisoning.

The money was spent on his drugs habit.

Judge Roberts said Abbott had formed relationships with vulnerable and “gullible” victims. He suspected his deceit was ingrained and noted he had 44 previous convictions including 18 for dishonesty, and several for breaches of earlier sentences.

He already owed $6623 in fines, reparations, and fees.

He noted that when Abbott was approached by probation about an address being unsuitable for home detention, he had told them: “If I get sent to prison, I’ll come out a monster and it will be your fault.”

Judge Roberts said that pointed to a “warped attitude” and said there would be people who believed he was already a monster.

He jailed Abbott for nine months, with post-release conditions that he not possess alcohol or drugs, and undergo assessment and treatment for alcohol and drug abuse as required. He was also ordered to pay the two women victims back $1520, but the judge said he had little hope it would be paid.

“Your offending was devastating for these women,” said the judge. “Your lies were never-ending.”

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File image. © Andrew Bardwell

A Commonwealth Games wrestler was called “a nasty, evil man” by the woman he raped in 1994 before he was imprisoned for 12 years 9 months.

Devon Charles Bond, 49, committed a second abduction of a woman jogger near Waikuku, North Canterbury, only a year after the night time armed home invasion in which he tied, raped and violated the woman at her Burwood home.

He served a seven-year six-month term for the Waikuku attack.

He was caught by a DNA database match in December 2014, and pleaded guilty to the new charges on the day of his High Court trial on May 2 this year.

He denies having any memory of the 1994 attack because of drug-taking and claims that the Waikuku abduction was not sexually motivated, according to Crown prosecutor Claire Boshier at today’s sentencing in the High Court at Christchurch.

Without treatment, Bond remained a medium-to-high risk for further sexual offending, she said.

Miss Boshier read out the statement of the woman victim. She said: “How smug you must have felt when you hadn’t been linked to my case. You must have thought you had got away with it.

“Well, you didn’t get away with it. Science has caught you and there’s no way out of it for you.”

The victim said the attack had changed her life and she was now much more cautious. “You haven’t ruined my life because I was determined that it would not happen, but you have seriously disrupted it, and you have stolen my freedom and my rights to live a fairly happy life.

“You are a nasty, evil man who needs to be taken off the streets for the longest possible time,” she said.

Defence counsel Tony Greig said reading the victim impact statement had affected Bond, and he would be willing to meet the victim if she wished. He said 18 years of offence-free life out of prison could be seen as overriding the risk of reoffending. He had worked and he had led a pro-social life. His partner had stood by him.

Mr Greig said Bond believed he had done what was necessary to leave the lifestyle behind. He believed the offending arose from the combination of the gang friends he had, and the drugs and alcohol he was bingeing on, and his negative attitudes towards women.

Bond had pleaded guilty to the charge of armed burglary of a home, assault with a weapon for threatening the woman victim with a knife, kidnapping for tying up the victim, two charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, and a charge of rape.

Justice Gerald Nation said the victim had shown considerable courage. Her victim impact statement was an eloquent account of how the attack had changed her life.

He attacked the 42-year-old woman, living by herself, who was asleep at home when Bond broke in and turned off the power at 1am. He was wearing dark clothing and a mask or balaclava, and holding a knife. He then tied her up with a length of clothes line, put a pillowcase over her head, and sexually violated her. He ripped her phone out, and threatened her before he left. The woman freed herself and ran to get help from neighbours.

A year later, Bond abducted a 37-year-old jogger along a riverbank near Waikuku, tying her hands with her top and pushing her into the boot of his car. She managed to release the boot and jump from the moving car.

Bond was caught by a DNA match after being convicted on charges of disorderly behaviour, resisting and assaulting a constable, after being arrested for a rowdy incident at a boxing event in December 2014.

The judge said there had been serious premeditation and preparation, and intimidation in the Burwood home invasion. He took into account the second attack only a year later. He said was sceptical about Bond’s claimed loss of memory. “The case against you was very strong. The guilty plea was simply a matter of facing up to the inevitable.”

He imposed a set term of imprisonment for 12 years 9 months, with a non-parole term of eight years.

But he also considered the Crown’s bid for a preventive detention term. He said Bond, who had been aged 27 at the time of the offence, could be jailed indefinitely if he was assessed as posing a significant risk of committing a further sexual or violent offence after release.

He said Bond’s anti-social behaviour emerged as a child with animal cruelty when he set fire to the family cat. He noted that Bond had throttled his 1995 victim. He also noted when he had the 1994 victim tied and hooded, she had asked why he was doing this and he had replied: “You bitches are all the same.”

His life had changed when he was injured an unable to compete as a wrestler. He began using alcohol and drugs, and became involved with a gang as a debt collector. The judge said Bond’s victims had been seriously at risk and he had caused serious harm to the community. His denials of memory or sexual motivation for the attacks were seen as making treatment difficult.

He decided he could impose a finite term of imprisonment, by a fine margin, taking into account the factors that would be taken into account – including treatment and the ability to have an extended supervision order in place – at the time of his release.

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A man who breached an extended supervision order when he went to pick up a woman from South City Mall, pleaded guilty to the breach and was sentenced to a term in prison.

Duane Charles Brendon Paul Burgess, of Sydenham, was subject to an ESO issued by the courts in May 2013 for repeat sexual offending.

He received a message from elderly woman and went to collect her at 5.30pm on a winter’s night, a visit that was picked up on his GPS monitoring.

One of the conditions of the order bans him from entering or loitering on the grounds of any public library, school, park, playground, “or any other area that children under the age of 16 may frequent or congregate within for any purpose including education, entertainment, or religious observation”.

Defence counsel Anselm Williams said Burgess didn’t loiter at the mall, and met her at the doorway.

He said Burgess was having difficulties about the flexibility and reasonableness of the order.

Christchurch District Court Judge Jane Farish said Burgess could seek a judicial review of how he is being managed by the Probation Department.

Burgess replied that he found that the instructions changed from one probation officer to the next, and he would obey them from one officer, and get breached for the same conduct from another.

Judge Farish said Burgess was at the mall when there would not be a lot of children there, and sentenced him to eight months’ prison.

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A 23-year-old man who threatened to set fire to a woman’s house, and used Facebook to send her brother a nude photo of her, was sentenced to supervision and community work.

In the Christchurch District Court, Michael Peter Kelly was sentenced on charges of intimidating a woman by threatening to damage her house, causing harm by posting a digital communication, and possession of pipes for smoking cannabis.

The Sydenham labourer’s defence counsel, Ros Burnside, said the victim had been in an on-off relationship with Kelly, which was troubled and toxic.

Problems developed and Kelly acted inappropriately, letting jealousy get in the way, she said.

Kelly was remorseful and knew his actions were totally wrong and harmful.

Judge Emma Smith said Kelly was jealous and behaved in an infantile and immature fashion.

She said the victim returned home to 19 messages on her phone from Kelly, and when he spoke to her he made comments that clearly stated he was threatening to burn her house down.

Judge Smith said the woman was scared and fearful, and it was a cowardly act.

Kelly and the victim shared intimate photos, which he threatened to send to her friends and family. He ended up sending two to two of his friends, and the victim’s brother.

When the police were at his address they found three cannabis pipes.

The offending was serious, and the intimidation was serious, Judge Smith said, and she told Kelly that it was easy to send digital stuff, but it needed to stop.

She sentenced him to 15 months’ supervision, and 160 hours’ community work. She also ordered an emotional harm payment to the victim of $500.

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Community Magistrates have begun sitting in Christchurch for the first time.

Three Community Magistrates from Auckland have been rostered to pilot the service in Christchurch for three days a week.

From today, a Community Magistrate will sit every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Christchurch. The magistrates will deal with overnight arrests of people charged with category 2 offences, where the maximum penalty is not greater than three months’ imprisonment or a fine of up to $40,000 and they have pleaded guilty.

Chief District Court Judge Jan-Marie Doogue said this would free up District Court judges to deal with more serious matters.

It is the first step in what is hoped will be permanent appointments of Community Magistrates in Christchurch when the District Court moves into the Christchurch Justice and Emergency Services Precinct next year, and will contribute to wider court scheduling improvements.

Southern Region Executive Judge Paul Kellar said delay in the court system was undesirable for complainants, witnesses and defendants alike.

“A key aim in the introduction of Community Magistrates to the Christchurch District Court is to reduce the amount of time people have to wait for their cases to be heard,” Judge Kellar said. “Their appointment will also mean that District Court Judges have more time to deal with the more serious cases.”

If the pilot becomes permanent, the Auckland Magistrates will eventually be replaced with people drawn from the local community.

Community Magistrates are part-time judicial officers recruited for their diverse range of skills, experience and perspectives. They currently sit in courts in Northland, Auckland, Manukau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Wairoa, New Plymouth and Whanganui.

Chief Judge Doogue said New Zealand’s 16 Community Magistrates were an important part of the District Court judiciary. They worked mostly in the busy list courts, dealing with sentencing of offenders who have pleaded guilty on the day, hearing opposed bail applications and dealing with administrative matters such as taking pleas and remanding defendants for probation, forensic or restorative justice reports, as well as voluntary alcohol, drug or rehabilitative programmes.

Chief Judge Doogue said Justices of the Peace would continue to undertake list and fixture courts for the lesser category 1 offences as they do now.

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A Prebbleton man may get a chance at a restorative justice meeting to apologise to the fellow hunter he accidentally shot in the leg during a hunting trip near Lake Coleridge.

The case was referred to restorative justice when Glen Royce Court, 40, pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court today to a charge of causing injury by carelessly using a rifle.

The incident took place on July 3, the last day of a weekend hunting trip to inland Canterbury by Court and two other men.

Police said the trio returned to a hut and decided to fire their weapons before returning. They stood in a triangular formation 2m apart, facing outwards.

When this was done, the victim moved to his left and Court turned to his right. As he turned, the .270 calibre Remington rifle discharged, hitting the other hunter in the calf.

The victim received a significant injury, the police said. He was hospitalised for a week and had surgery twice.

Court told police he had owned the rifle for eight or nine years and it had never accidentally discharged before. He could not explain why it had fired on this occasion, nor why it was pointing at his friend.

Judge Tom Gilbert said he did not know the range of penalties imposed in similar cases so he asked for submissions by the defence and the police ahead of the sentencing on December 21.

Court was remanded at large – no bail was required – after Judge Gilbert was told that the police had taken the firearm, and Court had voluntarily surrendered his firearms licence.

Judge Gilbert asked for a pre-sentence report to cover Court’s suitability for home or community detention and referred the case for a restorative justice meeting if the victim and the offender are willing.

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