A 43-year-old Rangiora man was sent to jail for three burglaries of small rural schools that were left messy, damaged, and caused the children distress.
Judge Emma Smith said Dean Richard Mehrtens thought targeting schools would cause less hardship than the burglary of one family, but his premeditated, determined ransacking of the schools created more victims.
Crown prosecutor Nicola Pointer said Mehrtens had nine previous burglary convictions, and the victim impact report said the burglaries caused psychological damage to the children of the schools.
Defence counsel Andrew McCormick said Mehrtens was a hardworking man until he had a car accident. His pain management got him addicted to morphine, and then a relationship with a woman who was also addicted to drugs escalated his problem.
Judge Smith said in May 2015 Mehrtens jemmied the office door of the Waiau Primary School and ransacked the drawers and cupboards. He left a nasty mess, took $230 cash and caused $290 damage.
In June he ripped the rear door of Darfield High School off its hinges and determinedly ransacked six offices by ripping off cupboard doors. Their repairs totalled $1430.
At the Darfield Primary School Mehrtens took two cash boxes and did $650 worth of damage.
She said the offending was to sustain his drug habit, but he had targeted places where staff worked hard, and had to do so much with so little.
She sentenced Mehrtens to 28 months prison and ordered reparation payments to the schools totalling over $2600.
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