Police v Wira [2017] NZDC 5482 (16 March 2017)

Last Updated: 7 August 2017

_{EDITORIAL NOTE: NO SUPPRESSION APPLIED.}

IN THE DISTRICT COURT AT CHRISTCHURCH

CRI-2017-009-001428 [2017] NZDC 5482

NEW ZEALAND POLICE

Prosecutor

v

DAARIAN AKUHATA WIRA

_Defendant

Hearing:	16 March 2017
Appearances:	sergeant I Patton for the Prosecutor G Henderson on behalf of R Wood for the Defendant
Judgment:	16 March 2017

_{NOTES OF JUDGE T J GILBERT ON SENTENCING}

[1] Mr Wira, you are for sentence today in relation to six charges: there are two burglaries, two unlawful taking of motor vehicles, one charge of receiving a wallet and one charge of breaching your release conditions.

[2] I gave you a sentence indication a few months ago and you took a bit of time to think about whether or not you wanted to accept that and ultimately you did accept it. That was for two years and three months’ imprisonment.

[3] Very briefly, in terms of the facts, the burglaries involved petrol stations and were carried out at night. There was not much taken. The motor vehicles that you took were both recovered but had some reasonably minor damage done to them. That wallet that you received was valued at about $50 and the release conditions

_{were breached by your failure to report as required.}

NEW ZEALAND POLICE v DAARIAN AKUHATA WIRA [2017] NZDC 5482 [16 March 2017]

[4] You have a significant number of previous convictions for a person who is still pretty young and as I just said to you before, it is probably time for a change, particularly now you have got a child. At the moment he or she is only six months, so they will not remember seeing you in prison. But, if you stay there for more than another year or two, and they have to go out there, that is going to be their first memory of their dad, seeing him in a prison visit centre. That is not something you want to have as your child’s first memory I would not have thought.

[5] The pre-sentence report recommends imprisonment, unsurprisingly. It indicates that you have some links to a local gang. That is not going to help you in the long run either. There is nothing in the pre-sentence report which suggests that the sentence indication I gave you was inappropriate.

[6] I went through the calculation of sentence when I gave you my sentence indication. I adopted a starting point on the two burglaries when considered together of two years and four months’ imprisonment. I uplifted that by five months to reflect the other dishonesty offending. I then uplifted it by a further three months to reflect the breach of release conditions which took me to three years in total. I then uplifted it by three months for your previous history, taking me to a total of three years and three months. I then gave you a 12 month discount for mitigating features including totality and your plea which brought me back to two years and three months, which was the sentence indication that you accepted.

[7] So what I need to do is indicate to you what sentences I am imposing on what charges. All of them will be served concurrently and because the sentence is over two years, the parole board will set your release conditions.

[8] So, on the two burglaries you will be sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment. On the two charges of unlawfully taking motor vehicles, you will be sentenced to one year imprisonment.

[9] On the charge of receiving the wallet, you will be sentenced to one month imprisonment, and on the charge of breaching release conditions you will be sentenced to four months’ imprisonment.

[10] As I say, they are all concurrent which means they will be served at the same

time so the total sentence is two years and three months’ imprisonment.

T J Gilbert

District Court Judge