A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Nine months Claude Sheridan spent on remand in custody before being cleared of kidnapping, theft, and violence charges by a jury last month, is penalty enough to cover other, lesser unrelated charges, a judge has ruled.
Sheridan, 35, was released on bail after his trial, pending a judge-alone hearing onother, peripheral charges that arose during a search of his Ormond property in November last year, in relation to the trial matters.
The Crown had applied to have these lesser charges severed from those heard at trial, saying they were not directly related and accepting they were likely to be prejudicial to Sheridan’s case. The jury was not aware of these lesser charges.
Appearing before Judge Evangelos Thomas, Sheridan abandoned his previously-signalled intention to defend the matters and pleaded guilty to three of them — receiving, cultivating cannabis, and breaching post-detention conditions. The Crown withdrew two others — possession of explosives (two shotgun rounds) and possession of a methamphetamine pipe.
Judge Thomas imposed a three-month prison term but said Sheridan had already served that time while remanded in custody for nine months on the other, more serious allegations.
The receiving and cultivation charges related to a chainsaw, valued at $2186, and 54 cannabis seedlings, varying in heights between 150mm and 300mm, officers found during the search of Sheridan’s property.
The chainsaw had been earlier taken from a forestry company working in the Kanakanaia area.
Police accepted the cannabis was grown on a non-commercial basis.
Sheridan told officers who found the items, he would “take the rap because it looked like he was going down for this anyway”.
The breach of post-detention conditions arose in relation to his failure to report to the probation service as required last October and November, after serving four months home detention for threatening to kill, assault with intent to injure and wilful damage.
