R v Reynolds [2017] NZDC 13457 (22 June 2017)

Last Updated: 13 November 2017

_{EDITORIAL NOTE: NO SUPPRESSION APPLIED.}

IN THE DISTRICT COURT AT AUCKLAND

CRI-2016-090-001062 [2017] NZDC 13457

THE QUEEN

v

_{TARQUIN AARON REYNOLDS}

Hearing:	22 June 2017
Appearances:	E Smith for the Crown M Pecotic for the Defendant
Judgment:	22 June 2017

_{NOTES OF JUDGE R G RONAYNE ON SENTENCING}

[1] Mr Reynolds, you are for sentence today on a variety of charges. Those result from you having pleaded guilty on 31 May to those charges after I gave you a sentence indication on 26 May and you will recall, just perhaps getting ahead of myself, that I gave you what I considered to be a very big discount to recognise the work that you have done, to get yourself clean and your life on track, but I will come back to that, and I want right now to acknowledge the presence of the people from the Grace Foundation.

[2] The charges that you pleaded guilty to are these: charge 1cultivating cannabis which carries a maximum term of seven years; these charges all relate to about

24 February 2016, charge 2 relates to possession of methamphetamine which carries a maximum term of six months, charge 3 possession of cannabis for sale which carries

_{a maximum term of eight years, charge 4 manufacturing methamphetamine which}

R v REYNOLDS [2017] NZDC 13457 [22 June 2017]

carries a maximum of life imprisonment, charge 5 possession of precursor substances which speaks for itself and attracts a maximum of five years’ imprisonment and charge

6 possession of materials intending that they be used to manufacture methamphetamine which again speaks for itself and has the same penalty as the precursor charge, charge 7 possession of equipment; that is on the exact same basis as the preceding two charges with the same penalty and charge 8 is possession of utensils which was a glass pipe for smoking methamphetamine.

[3] The sentence indication I gave you was given on the basis of the summary of facts. In the morning of 24 February last year police executed a search warrant at your address and located 21 mature cannabis plants growing out in the open about 30 metres from your house. They then searched your house and garage and the like. In the garage they located an active clandestine methamphetamine laboratory set up in the back of the garage in the process of making methamphetamine. Other equipment and chemicals relating to the manufacture of methamphetamine were also located throughout the garage such as steam distillers, digital scales, pH metres, plastic tubing, a metal cylinder, a frying tray, measuring jugs, power boards, electrical fans, funnels, coffee filters, plastic bottles containing liquids, face masks and various chemicals.

[4] In the house the police located approximately 15 grams of methamphetamine which is a very significant amount indeed. That was located throughout the house including beside where you were sitting in the lounge. It was found in the kitchen. It was found in the bedroom. All of the methamphetamine was in plain view. Utensils for the consumption of methamphetamine were also located throughout the house and the summary indicates that those were found usually in the same locations as the various methamphetamine stashes. There were numerous glass pipes.

[5] Various equipment and chemicals relating to the manufacture of methamphetamine were also located throughout the house. In particular, a white plastic drum containing liquid, electrical fans, plastic bottles, coffee beakers, steam distillers, baking dishes containing residue, measuring jugs, hot plates, glass condensers and various chemicals. Also the police found a plastic container inside the house which had about seven grams of dried cannabis in it.

[6] Under the house the police located a cannabis grow room concealed behind a sauna. That contained florescent lights, power converters, extractor fans, carbon filters and timers. There were 15 mature plants growing in a hydroponic setup inside the grow room. The cannabis plants looked healthy and well cared for. An electrical hot plate was found in your car. You told the police that the cannabis seized was for your own personal use and that the methamphetamine related equipment was yours and for experiments. You have a previous conviction from 2004.

[7] I accept the submissions made on your behalf by Ms Pecotic that up to a point, although she did not use the expression, the pre-sentence report applies some blunt tools with all due respect to the writer of the report. It notes that you were sentenced to three and a half years in 2004 for what is described as similar offending.

[8] Because of the tools used by Community Corrections, you are assessed as being at medium risk with the possibility that escalating in terms of re-offending and also your risk of harm to the community is considered high because you continue to re-offend. Your opportunity over the next little while and then permanently is to make sure that you prove the probation officer completely wrong and I am sure that the probation officer would be delighted to be proved wrong, but that is not something over which I have any control. It is entirely a matter for you with the expert assistance that you, I am sure, are going to get.

[9] Although there has been a little bit of debate just a few minutes ago about how much you owe, I am satisfied from a report that is before me which is dated

24 February that you have outstanding unpaid fines and an enforcement fee, all totalling $8848.89. There really was a very significant quantity of methamphetamine here, Mr Reynolds, and the growing operation was quite sophisticated. It may have been relatively small but it was sophisticated.

[10] So those overall aspects of this, which is the amount of methamphetamine and the scale of what you were doing and the sophistication of it, count against you as aggravating features. But that said, a precise assessment of exactly how much you may have made or were going to make in the way of methamphetamine and how many

plants were going to mature and so on, it is not really possible in the circumstances but you were most certainly the principal offender in the household.

[11] Various cases have been drawn to my attention. In my view, the sentence indication which I gave you remains valid. The starting point for the methamphetamine manufacture and the associated offending was four years.

[12] In relation to the cannabis I had this to say when I gave you the sentence indication:

Insofar as the cannabis cultivation is concerned, taken in isolation, it is my view that would be at the lower end of category 2 or the upper end of category

1. It cannot have been for your own use exclusively in my view but bearing in

mind totality I would add six months to the notional starting point that I have just mentioned. That would bring the sentence up to one of four and half years on a notional basis.

[13] As I indicated at the sentence indication hearing, I will add and still do another four months to reflect your previous conviction. It brings then the notional sentence up to one of four years and 10 months. I said to you then and I think I may have said to Ms Reed earlier that personal circumstances can never be ignored but when it comes to doing things like manufacturing methamphetamine, personal circumstances takes second place behind the need for denunciation and deterrence and accountability. But having said that, I am satisfied that this was not a major commercial operation. It was largely to feed your addiction but must also have been at least up to a point to support that.

[14] I said, and I repeat now, that a 20 percent discount for your guilty plea would be appropriate in all the circumstances. That strictly calculated was 11.6 months which I rounded up to 12 months. That then brought the notional sentence down to one of three years and 10 months’ imprison. I then said this and I hesitate to repeat it, “Without any particular legal authority for doing so, I would then even though it is at the wrong end of the calculation give you a 12 month discount to reflect rehabilitation efforts.” That then brought down the overall sentence to one of two years and 10 months.

[15] I am going to up to a point, but not in terms of the sentence of imprisonment, cut you a little more slack because I am satisfied that you really are, and I can tell you I have got my fingers crossed here, at that point in your life where you may want to part company with the drug world altogether. It may be of assistance to you to cut you this extra slack that I am about to mention so that when you do get out of prison, which ought not to be in too much time because of the time you have already spent in prison, you can start with a clean slate and get on with what you need to get on with, with the assistance of the Grace Foundation. If you choose not to, well sadly the prediction in the probation officer’s report may come true and hopefully that will not be the case, you will prove the probation officer wrong. What I am referring to is remitting all of the fines. I am going to do that without adding to your sentence. Normally that would add to the sentence.

[16] So having said all of that, you probably just want to know what the sentences are. Before I go on, Mr Reynolds, you do not need to add these up. The sentence is one of two years and 10 months.

[17] On CRN ending 1422, you are sentenced to six months’ prison.

[18] On 1423, one month prison.

[19] On 1424, six month's’ prison.

[20] On 1425, two years and 10 months’ prison.

[21] On 4915, five months’ prison.

[22] On 4917, five months’ prison.

[23] At the risk of repeating myself, I remit all fines as referred to in the document entitled “Warrant to arrest for unpaid fines” in the amount of $8848.89.

[24] I make an order for the destruction of all drug related items.

R G Ronayne

District Court Judge