Repeat offender Ngakurarangi Kohu sentenced to 10 months in jail after bail breach

The judge said Ngakurarangi Kohu doesn't like being told what to do.

A woman who rammed a police car, cut off her monitoring bracelet and refused to engage with Corrections staff has been jailed for her persistent defiance.

Ngakurarangi Kohu, 38, appeared in the Whangārei District Court for sentencing on a range of charges, including theft and an assault involving a car as a weapon.

Her latest offending adds to years of theft charges, burglaries and multiple breaches of court orders, including community work and bail.

In December 2024, Kohu drove off from two petrol stations, BP Wylies Whangārei and Caltex Dargaville, without paying for gas.

Then in early 2025, Kohu was in a car on Raumanga Valley Rd, Whangārei, where police were responding to a family harm incident.

When police approached her, she said, “Save the children,” and drove off in the other direction.

When police put on their flashing lights, she refused to pull over immediately and later pulled into a carpark.

Blocked in by other police cars, Kohu reversed 15m into a police car, narrowly missing a police officer who was standing at her driver’s window.

Once in custody, she refused to give a breath or blood test.

Then in August, while on remand, she was granted electronically monitored (EM) bail by Judge Gene Tomlinson in the Whangārei District Court.

But within a week, she cut off her bracelet before ending up back in jail.

While on remand at the Auckland women’s prison awaiting sentencing, she refused to speak to anyone from Corrections to conduct a pre-sentence report.

Her lawyer, Aaron Dooney, said his client was strong-minded, but the judge had some other words for her.

“I accept that as a description, but what it also says is you’re not prepared to do as you’re told and that your decisions are always right and you will always do what you want to do and it doesn’t matter what anyone else wants,” the judge said.

Judge Tomlinson pointed out he was disappointed he had given her EM bail despite police warning him not to.

“Police were right, and they were proved right. I gave you EM bail on the 19th of August and you cut your bracelet off and were back in jail by the 25th.

“You don’t like being told what to do, Ms Kohu, and if it doesn’t suit you, you won’t do as you’re told. The only option for the court is jail.”

Kohu appeared confused when Judge Tomlinson detailed her criminal history and repeatedly responded “eh?”.

She spent most of her time in the dock making hand gestures to people in the public gallery as she was jailed for 10 months.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.