Home invasion 'lookout' loses appeal

A man who acted as look-out during a brutal Auckland home invasion by a gang pretending to be armed offenders squad officers has failed to get a reduction on his 9-1/2 year jail term.

Two of the men allegedly involved in terrorising the Pakuranga family were finally arrested by police in Tokoroa following a 12-month manhunt, code-named Operation Highland.

The Court of Appeal said in a recent decision that the sentence handed down to 20-year-old "look-out and decoy" John Royal by Judge Patrick Treston in Manukau District Court was warranted.

"This was a sustained intrusion into a private home at night, involving a vicious assault upon the senior male occupant, and the detention of a family in the very place where they were entitled to feel safe," Justice Christopher Allan said as he delivered the court's decision.

"Indeed, the primary target of this invasion, the senior male occupant who was the subject of a vicious knife attack, has returned to China."

The court heard that early on September 10, 2006 three men carrying firearms and a sledgehammer smashed their way into the home of a Chinese family as they slept, claiming to be members of the AOS.

They were dressed in imitation police clothing, including bulletproof vests, ballistic helmets, gasmasks and dark clothing.

The six family members, including a 13-year-old girl, were "herded" together in a bedroom and bound and gagged with tape.

"One stood guard with a shotgun which he racked from time to time in order to intimidate the victims," Justice Allan said.

While a second offender searched the house, taking $2000 and a cellphone, the third man, who was carrying a pistol, took a middle aged male to the kitchen where he ordered him to sit on the element of a stove which was switched on.

When the man refused, he was punched to the floor and kicked in the head and body as demands were made for money and valuables.

"The offender took a knife from a kitchen drawer and slashed the victim's upper body and thighs, so causing cuts to his clothing and to his body," the appeal judges said.

However, the home invasion had been noticed by neighbours, who called police and all four were eventually caught.

Royal's lawyer Peter Kaye told the appeal court his sentence was excessive.

The 10-12 year starting point was too high, not enough weight was given to Royal's limited role, and the sentence was too high compared with the actual intruders.

But the argument was rejected by the appeal judges.

Royal was not a mere passive bystander, Justice Allan said.

He had an important role in the enterprise and was already a recidivist offender with 17 burglary convictions.

- NZPA