TOP STORY: Pair out in 4 months after charges deal

By Court Reporter
Two brothers who led police on a dramatic three-hour car chase and then fled while on prison leave will be out of jail within four months after half their charges were dropped.
Drawn-out negotiations between lawyers and police in court yesterday resulted in a raft of charges being dropped against Katikati's Harris brothers and a third man at the centre of high-speed chase in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato in October.
Forestry worker Richard Harris, 31, and orchard worker Mark Harris, 33, were jointly charged with 29-year-old Rotorua man Douglas Morris. The brothers originally faced 10 and nine charges respectively.
But the net result of the "horse-trading", as one of the lawyers described it in Tauranga District Court, was the charges against all three were halved and their guilty pleas meant reduced jail sentences.
Police sought leave from Judge Louis Bidois to strike out many charges after the brothers each admitted some charges and Morris took sole responsibility for four - unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, aggravated assault on a police officer, theft of $5000 worth of tools, and breach of parole conditions.
Morris, who was already in custody on remand in relation to other unrelated charges, was jailed for 16 months.
The Harris brothers hit the headlines last month after they were granted special prison leave to attend their uncle's funeral but failed to return to Waikeria prison on time.
They spent nearly six weeks on the run before police caught them again.
Richard Harris was jailed for 11 months and Judge Bidois agreed to cancel 100 hours' outstanding community work.
Mark Harris was jailed for 10 months and was also disqualified from driving for 13 months, which means he must resit his licence when it ends.
Tony Balme, the lawyer representing Richard Harris, today told the Bay of Plenty Times both brothers would serve only half their prison sentence and would also get a discount for time already served on remand.
That meant Mark Harris was likely to be out in about three months, while his brother would serve an extra month for having his community work cancelled.
Both men were denied leave to apply for home detention.
Judge Bidois said the aggravating features to all three men's offending were the road safety issues and prior criminal histories but the most serious charges were the aggravated assaults on police who "could have been killed".
The fact multiple charges were dropped has outraged Ken Evans, Bay of Plenty spokesman for the Sensible Sentencing Trust.
He said bargaining behind the scenes was not acceptable, and let criminals have a good laugh at the law.
Mr Evans said we had a "shocking" situation in New Zealand in which negotiating and bargaining was not uncommon, even in situations where the offenders had committed serious crimes.
"The message has to go out that we're not going to stand for crime and the police are going to pursue it and the courts are going to issue appropriate sentences.
"We want the law upheld, we want it to be strong and reflect the community's abhorrence of what's going on," Mr Evans said.
Mr Balme today denied there was any plea bargaining involved in the lengthy negotiations with prosecution.
"It was simply a case of once everyone was finally all together it became clear who had done what and then simply working through each charge to ensure the right person was charged and in the end the right person took responsibility for the offences they committed."
Mr Balme said in the absence of evidence some other charges also had to be withdrawn against all three men.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Sean Brennan also said there was no plea bargaining involved.
"The charges were originally jointly laid by police because police were unsure who was driving and under what circumstances each of offences took place for whom.
"It was only once police, the offenders and the lawyers were all in the same room it became clear who was responsible for what charges and whether there was sufficient evidence for each charge to proceed."
- with Carly Udy