A Northland judge told a Dargaville man he would not send him to prison because "you will sit in a cell all day and do nothing while the community pays for you".
"A pre-sentence report describes your offending record as 'humungous' ... I am appalled," said Judge Duncan Harvey, "and my knee-jerk reaction is to send you to prison. But instead, I will sentence you to home detention and community work so you can give something back to the community."
Edward Broughton, 38, and his partner Linda Schollum, 46, tried to defraud The Warehouse by making false claims for refunds.
Appearing in the Dargaville District Court last week, the court heard the pair had gone to The Warehouse in November and bought items worth $362.90.
The next day the pair went back to the store and filled their trolley with the same items they had bought the day before. Instead of paying for them, Broughton went straight to the customer services department telling the assistant his wife had a problem buying things they did not need.
He asked for and received a full refund on the items.
The pair tried to repeat the same scam a second time, but the staff queried the refund and Broughton left the store without it. Inquiries led to the pair being charged separately.
Two months earlier, the couple had been in the Dargaville Post Shop where they each took a number of courier bags to the counter. The assistant was unable to serve them at the time, Schollum returned her bags to the shelf while Broughton hid his bags under clothing and left the store.
Broughton's defence counsel Darrell Hart argued the stress of the couple's large combined family put pressure on family finances, particularly at Christmas.
He felt it was not in the best interests of the children to have the couple separated and asked for home detention to be considered.
Judge Duncan Harvey said it would be very unusual for co-defendants to be sentenced to home detention and live in a house they shared.
He noted Schollum had no previous convictions and said he doubted whether she would have been involved in such an incident if she were not under the influence of her partner.
But Schollum took responsibility for her involvement.
On charges of theft and two charges of using a document for pecuniary purposes, Broughton was sentenced to five months' home detention and ordered to pay reparation of $181.45 and $432.60.
He was also ordered to complete 150 hours' community work.
Schollum was convicted on two charges of using a document for pecuniary purposes and ordered do 40 hours' community work.
Spared jail 'because you will do nothing'
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