Gisborne District Court news

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

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Riripeti Linda Samuels, 22, was sentenced predominantly for driving charges to three months community detention (with a daily curfew of 8pm – 6am) and six months supervision.

Mandatory alcohol-interlock licensing provisions were also imposed.

Samuels pleaded guilty to the charges — refusing a request for a blood specimen, driving while unlicenced, wilful trespass (on Pak‘nSave), and two breaches of bail.

Judge Bolstad said while Samuels’ previous convictions were mostly limited to driving offences, she was starting to rack up several of them. She needed to be mindful sentences would only get harsher if she similarly reoffended.

Shamrock Teariki Noa Hokianga pleaded guilty to assault on a person in a family relationship, and wilful damage.

He was sentenced to 12 months intensive supervision.

Judge Bolstad said the sentence was the only realistic alternative to others that might normally have been imposed — community work or an electronically monitored option.

She accepted Hokianga could not do community work due to a shoulder injury and had no suitable address at which to serve an EM-sentence.

The assault involved two punches to the victim’s head; the wilful damage was of a cellphone for which Hokianga had since arranged a replacement.

The judge noted Hokianga had previous relevant convictions — one in 2011 for assault and one in 2017 for wilful damage.