District Court news

Gisborne Courthouse. File picture by Rebecca Grunwell

Authorities at Gisborne Hospital’s Ward 11 have been told by a judge to strictly supervise a male patient to ensure he is never alone there with females, even if it means stepping up resources.

Joe Tuhoro Biddle, 65, appeared for sentence in Gisborne District Court, having twice indecently assaulted a female patient.

Judge Warren Cathcart said the case was difficult for the court. There were virtually no suitable sentencing options available for Biddle.

He was already on a compulsory treatment order at the time of the offending, so there was no point in the court imposing another.

Ward 11 staff would just have to ensure he was always well supervised, Judge Cathcart said.

The judge ordered Biddle’s case be called again in six months, for the court to monitor the strength of the arrangement.

Meanwhile, if Biddle re-offended, the authorities would no doubt apply for a review and the only course of action would likely be to imprison Biddle.

Biddle first indecently assaulted the woman on November 11 last year when he and she were both sitting talking in the smoking area of a seclusion lounge, the court heard.

Without warning, Biddle reached out and rubbed his hand over her breast and leg. She was shocked and angered, moved away quickly and informed staff.

Later, Biddle indecently assaulted her again while she was asleep. The woman woke to find him again rubbing her breast. She yelled for him to go, which he did.

Biddle said he was “sex-starved”.

While such offending would ordinarily warrant imprisonment, the court accepted Biddle suffered from significant mental health problems, Judge Cathcart said.

The limitations of Biddle’s mental health were reflected in his likewise limited understanding of appropriate behaviour.

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A man’s efforts to upskill himself while on remand in custody resulted in an additional discount — enough to get him a sentence of time served.

Steele Ihenga Boreham, 24, pleaded guilty to three sets of offences — unlawfully entering a yard, unlawfully getting into a vehicle, and escaping; theft and wilful damage; a breach of intensive supervision and a breach of bail.

He had been on remand in custody for 129 days — the equivalent of an eight and a half months sentence, which was what Judge Warren Cathcart imposed after various deductions, including for Boreham’s efforts to upskill.

Counsel Michael Lynch told the judge Boreham got several NZQA credits for carpentry, his driver’s licence, and had nearly completed a first aid certificate during his time on remand.

On his release, he intended to live with family in Thames.

Judge Cathcart noted Boreham suffered from health concerns but not to the extent that he met the criteria for special provisions under the Mentally Impaired Persons Act.

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Imprisonment was the only option for a man who breached a protection order for the fifth time. He had not been deterred by other sentencing approaches, Judge Cathcart said.

Clark Rangi Smith, 46, pleaded guilty to breaching the order along with charges of being unlawfully in a building, two counts of trespassing, intentional damage and two breaches of bail by failing to appear in court.

He was jailed for six months, with six months standard and special release conditions.

Counsel Mark Sceats sought home detention for Smith, citing the lack of actual physical violence and health problems suffered by Smith — depression and an arthritic shoulder brought on by improper surgery.

The relationship between Smith and the complainant had been dysfunctional for a long time and involved some give and take, Mr Sceats said.

She had gone to Smith’s house of her own volition when the breach of the protection order occurred.

Judge Cathcart accepted Smith had taken some steps to deal with the complex difficulties between him and the woman but due to his history of similar offending, he needed to be personally deterred.

The relationship between the two had been on and off for 30 years.

Smith had been under a trespass order from her house but on February 16 this year, went there regardless. He knocked on the lounge window and when the woman refused to let him in, he became verbally abusive and belittled her with name-calling.

She drew the curtains and told Smith to leave, but before walking off, he knocked with such force on the window that he smashed it.

Later, while she was out, he took cereal from her kitchen.

In a victim impact statement to the court, the woman said she was sick of feeling how she did, feeling scared, and being mistreated the way she had for “years and years”. She did not know how to stop it from happening.

Judge Cathcart said the only way to stop Smith’s offending was to increase the penalties imposed.

Smith had been jailed before for breaching the order, which was implemented in 2000, and he had assaulted the woman four times between 1997 and 2011.

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Grief could be behind a woman’s prolific shoplifting, the court was told.

Deanna Barbara Samuels, 41, appeared for 13 thefts from shops around the country, involving goods totalling $3196, two charges of wilful trespass and five breaches of bail.

She was sentenced to three months community detention, 160 hours community work and nine months supervision.

The community work sentence also covers nearly $5000 in outstanding fines, which were wiped.

Though not advancing it as an excuse, counsel Michael Lynch said Samuels’ offending could be connected to events in 2015 involving her daughter and her mother’s death. A pre-sentence report stated she could have been blocking out her grief.

Samuels had now engaged with an appropriate agency to address that issue, Mr Lynch said.

Judge Cathcart accepted the submission but told Samuels she was a petty thief. He told her one of her charges involving goods over $1000, carried a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.

He set a starting point of 12 months imprisonment, increasing it to 14 months due to Samuels’ six prior convictions for similar, though less serious, offending.

He converted the prison term to a final combination of community-based sentences.