Christchurch looters get instant jail term

Photo / Herald on Sunday

A judge has sent a strong message to quake looters with an instant two-month jail term for a man found on the roof of a damaged pharmacy.

Judge Michael Radford imposed the jail term on a day when four earthquake-related cases went through the Christchurch District Court.

Twenty-four-year-old Jason Mark Tui Adams, unemployed, admitted being unlawfully at a Bealey Avenue pharmacy that was damaged and closed by the September 4 7.1 magnitude quake.

He was seen entering the building by a passer-by and then tracked to the roof by a police dog.

Defence counsel Grant Tyrrell said Adams "struggled with addiction".

"When he falls off the wagon his decision making becomes very poor," he said.

Judge Radford accused Adams of being there for the purpose of looting though he had been caught before he could take anything.

"The courts have made it clear that this sort of behaviour is to be abhorred, and have been sending a strong message that this conduct will not be tolerated."

Jailing him immediately for two months, he said Adams had a huge list of previous convictions, mostly for dishonesty.

Gemma Graveson, 25, admitted a charge of burglary of a cafe in central Christchurch.

She threw a brick through the window of the damaged and closed cafe at 6.20am on October 3 and then took bottles of alcohol worth $109.

She was caught nearby, after having telephoned police herself.

Judge Radford was told she was undergoing rehabilitation treatment at the Seager Clinic at Princess Margaret Hospital and was accompanied in court by two nursing staff.

He remanded her for a pre-sentence report and sentence on January 28 and warned her that prison was a possible outcome.

Liam Blair Farmer, a 17-year-old with no income and unpaid fines totalling $3300, faces a big bill after admitting unlawfully taking a car belonging to an earthquake relief worker.

The car was damaged and police said today the repair bill was $5688, which Farmer was ordered to pay.

He was released on bail in the days after the earthquake but was then picked up in breach of his bail conditions late at night, driving while disqualified, and drink-driving.

That led to a remand in custody which Farmer told the court was "the longest weekend of my life".

He's now seeking work.

Judge Radford ordered him to pay for the repairs, and to do 140 hours community work including 60 hours in place of his unpaid fines, disqualified him for driving for six months, and released him under supervision for a year.

Daniel Ezekiel Peneha, 28, unemployed, is denying the burglary of a house in Edgeware Road and a dairy in Barbadoes Street on the day after the earthquake. The case was described in court as being related to the earthquake when Peneha was first arrested.

A registrar today set the defended hearing down for a trial before a judge-alone on February 22.

- NZPA