Police v Porima [2017] NZDC 11190 (29 May 2017)

Last Updated: 10 October 2017

_{EDITORIAL NOTE: NO SUPPRESSION APPLIED.}

IN THE DISTRICT COURT AT HAMILTON

CRI-2016-019-007551 [2017] NZDC 11190
_{THREE STRIKES WARNING}

NEW ZEALAND POLICE

Prosecutor

v

JOHN TEHO PORIMA

_Defendant

Hearing:	29 May 2017
Appearances:	Sergeant M MacDonald for the Prosecutor G Prentice for the Defendant
Judgment:	29 May 2017

_{NOTES OF JUDGE R H RIDDELL ON SENTENCING}

[1] Mr Porima, you appear today for sentence on a charge of with intent to cause grievous bodily harm injuring the named victim. One thing stands out in all of this for me and that is your remorse. Now people in your position sitting where you are are usually remorseful when it comes to sentencing. I might be wrong but I sense that your remorse is very genuine and that there is a strong sense of whakama.

[2] It is inevitable that I will impose a term of prison today. What is not clear to me is what you will do with that imprisonment term and more importantly what you will do when you are released from prison. I accept that you are no longer involved in gangs. I accept that you would like to have the evidence of that removed and I accept from your letter that you know, as you say yourself, you have come to the

_{point in your life that things need to change.}

NEW ZEALAND POLICE v JOHN TEHO PORIMA [2017] NZDC 11190 THREE STRIKES WARNING [29

May 2017]

[3] You have the support of your whānau here and a number of them have turned up today. If they are there for you when you are released from prison, then I hope that they may be able to offer you practical support to help you change because if you do not, if you keep drinking alcohol, if you keep getting into altercations of this kind, if you keep on offending as you have done over pages and pages of previous offending, then you are going to simply find yourself in and out of prison until one day you are a very old man and you will really wonder is that what you wanted to do with your life.

[4] I am grateful to counsel for the submissions. I accept that there are no particular cases that will help me in terms of sentencing but I also accept the other cases that counsel has provided to me to assist me with sentencing and so I turn now to the starting point. Clearly the aggravating feature of your offending was the use of a weapon against the victim and the weapon was the vehicle that you drove with speed against the victim and could have so easily caused serious injury or death.

[5] I accept that the offending falls on that cusp between band 1 and band 2 and in my view should start therefore with a starting point of three years and eight months. I am going to add to that an uplift of four months for your previous offending. While most of your violent offending was historical, there was a more recent offence in 2015 which warrants an uplift of four months. That takes me to four years. When I consider your remorse and your credit for your guilty plea, I am going to give you the full 25 percent for that and that will take me back to three years. That is the final sentence that I impose.

[6] The release conditions will be on release to attend an assessment for a departmental programme as directed by Probation, to attend an assessment for substance abuse as directed by them and in fact any other programme that Probation think you will benefit from on your release.

[7] It is more than two years so in fact Probation will decide in conjunction with the Parole Board precisely what release conditions there will be. I know that you wanted to attend the Tai Aroha programme but you did not meet their criteria. This is not the end of the road for you. This could be seen as the start of a new road with

the support of whānau, with your remorse, with your ability to take alcohol out of your life, I guess it will be up to you. That is the sentence that I have imposed.

[8] Finally, I am reminded that because this is violent offending I am required to give you what is called a stage one warning and that is as follows. Given your conviction for with intent to cause grievous bodily harm injuring the named victim, you are now subject to the three strikes law. I am going to give you a warning of the consequences of another serious violence conviction. You will also be given a written notice outlining these consequences which lists the serious violent offences.

(a) If you are convicted of any serious violent offences other than murder committed after this warning and if a Judge imposes a sentence of imprisonment then you will serve that term without parole or early release.

(b) If you are convicted of murder committed after this warning, then you must be sentenced to life imprisonment. That will be served without parole unless it would be manifestly unjust. In that event the Judge must sentence you to a minimum term of imprisonment.

[9] So today you are sentenced to three years. I have given you the strike one warning.

R H Riddell

District Court Judge