COURT: Community work for young mum

A young Tauranga mother has been sentenced to community service after admitting breaking into a house.
In Tauranga District Court yesterday, unemployed Darylene Jamie Cooper, 17, was sentenced to 80 hours' community work after she pleaded guilty to one charge of burglary.
At 6pm on December 1, the owner of a Tauranga address returned from work to find a window had been forced open and her home ransacked.
On closer examination, it was found a substantial amount of property was missing.
Defence lawyer Glenn Barnett said while his client was involved in the burglary, her female co-offenders were the instigators.
Judge Thomas Ingram accepted Cooper was not the main offender but ordered she have no association with either of her co-offenders and pay $150 in reparation.
DIESEL THEFT: A judge has refused to accept an explanation a Greerton concrete worker stole diesel because he was curious.
Shaun Patrick McGrath, 21, was yesterday sentenced to 250 hours' community work and ordered he pay $167 reparation after pleading guilty to one charge each of burglary and theft.
On February 5, McGrath entered Plateau Heights subdivision and siphoned diesel from a water tanker.
After filling his own vehicle with an estimated $17 in fuel, he then broke into a nearby secured container, taking $160 of its contents.
He fled when he was disturbed.
Lawyer John Holmes said McGrath was remorseful and had acted because he was "short of cash".
"Unfortunately, curiosity overtook him."
However, Judge Thomas Ingram, who also disqualified McGrath from driving for six months, did not accept this explanation.
"I don't believe you helped yourself to someone else's property because you were curious."
BAT ATTACK: Tauranga's Kelly Bre Anderson used a softball bat to quell an argument.
Now, the unemployed Arataki 27-year-old will hear exactly how her actions have affected her victim.
In Tauranga District Court yesterday, Judge Thomas Ingram ordered Anderson to complete a restorative justice conference after she pleaded guilty to one charge of assault with a blunt instrument.
At 1am on December 26 last year, the victim was at Anderson's address when the pair become involved in an abusive argument.
Becoming frustrated, Anderson picked up a baseball bat and attacked the male victim _ breaking his thumb.
Judge Ingram bailed Anderson on the condition she attend a restorative justice conference and reappear in court on April 7.