Armed robber breaks link with the mob

CHRISTCHURCH - Joshua Peter Brennan should get credit for the moral and physical courage required to break his link with the Mongrel Mob, Judge Raoul Neave said today as he jailed the armed robber for nine-and-a-half years.

At the age of 27, Brennan has spent a lot of the last 10 years in jail, and he now faces another almost decade-long term.

He spoke well in court, saying he was sorry to his victims and his family. He has two young sons.

"I'll just take it day by day and break the cycle so my kids don't have to see me in jail any more. Hopefully I'll return to the community a better person," he said.

That may be sooner than it sounds. Because of the time he has already spent in jail on remand waiting for two trials, he may be eligible to come before the Parole Board for consideration for release in about 18 months, Judge Neave said.

Brennan committed a series of serious offences over seven months after his release from prison in January 2008. His record includes 15 burglaries, 22 other offences of dishonesty, and an armed robbery.

He admitted wielding a shotgun during the armed robbery of the Shirley Liquorland, and burgling two businesses where people he knew on the staff had supplied information. He also admitted receiving a shirt taken in a $30,000 clothing burglary.

Those pleas were entered before trial, but he also went to trial for a brutal assault on his partner, where she was a reluctant witness.

The crown said he had punched her, pushed her into parts of the building, tied her up, and struck her with a vacuum cleaner pipe.

Defence counsel Serina Bailey said Brennan had a new maturity and wanted to get his life back on track so that he could be a father to his two children.

Judge Neave noted the pre-sentence report indicated Brennan had severed his ties with the Mongrel Mob.

"Gangs rely on people being too afraid, or too lazy, to break the association. To do what you have said you have done will require considerable courage both physical and moral. I believe people who take that step need to be encouraged."

He said Brennan had reached an age where young men sometimes saw clearly that they must change their lives if they wanted to play any meaningful part in the lives of their children.

Brennan had a history of addiction. He had now accepted that regular cannabis use had led to him becoming unmotivated.

He said Brennan had tried to have a restorative justice conference set up to meet his victims. He was genuinely sorry and was taking responsibility for what he had done.

Judge Neave said: "Your letter to me shows you are someone of some intelligence notwithstanding your disrupted schooling. You are able to spell, put together a clear and well constructed letter, and have remarkably neat handwriting.

"That may sound trivial, but it's not. It shows you have got real ability. I would hate to see it wasted."

- NZPA