Commissioners of Abuse in Care Royal Commission reflect on the landmark inquiry.
A former state ward has been jailed for stealing a high-performance $140,000 BMW from a luxury car dealership then leading police on a 200km/h joyride across Auckland which only ended when he ran out of fuel.
At his sentencing yesterday, it emerged that Aaron Grimmett had suffered href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/child-abuse/" target="_blank">horrific abuse as a child and teenager in state care, including 23 hours a day confined in a hot and stuffy unit.
His lifetime of being let down by institutions continued this year, the North ShoreDistrict Court heard on Wednesday.
Both he and the victim of his latest offending had said they were willing to engage in restorative justice, but a breakdown in communication meant the court was wrongly told the victim had declined.
Grimmett, 37, is also eager to have treatment for his drug and alcohol use, his lawyer Marek Hamlin said.
But there is no space at a residential rehabilitation programme and like many other prisoners, he was unable to access rehab services while on remand awaiting sentence.
The road leading to the latest of his more than 100 convictions began on the evening of March 12 this year at the Auckland City BMW dealership in Great South Rd, Epsom.
He entered the premises about 6.30pm and hopped into a grey 2024 BMW 3 Series M340i xDrive, a 3.0L saloon worth $140,000. He was then told to leave by a woman working there because the dealership had closed half an hour earlier.
Grimmett refused, so the staffer went to fetch her colleague and they again told him to leave the car, according to the summary of facts to which he pleaded guilty.
He said he wanted to check out the car then eventually left the vehicle.
The woman, feeling uncomfortable, retreated inside the dealership but Grimmett followed her up a flight of stairs and on to the showroom floor.
Grimmett lunged forward, snatched the keys from her hand, ran back outside to the car, hopped in and sped off.
A 2022 BMW M340i pictured in Arizona, an earlier version of the grey sedan stolen by Aaron Grimmett in March. Photo / HJUdall
He was tracked by CCTV cameras and the police Eagle helicopter driving the high performance sedan over the Auckland Harbour Bridge before veering off the motorway on the North Shore at Esmonde Rd.
Police say he drove on the wrong side of the road several times, nearly missing other drivers and forcing them to take evasive action. He re-entered the motorway at Onewa Rd before gunning it north at speeds of more than 200km/h on State Highway 1.
His joyride ended after the car ran out of petrol at Dairy Flat, about 30km north of central Auckland.
When he was arrested, he had a 250ml can of a Jack Daniels RTD between his thighs, while his eyes were bloodshot, his speech was slurred and he smelled of alcohol, police said. His breath test returned a result of 600mcg/L of breath, above the 400mcg/L threshold for criminal prosecution for drink-driving.
He pleaded guilty to charges of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, reckless driving and drink-driving.
On Wednesday, Hamlin told Judge Anna Fitzgibbon his client’s earlier sentencing date had been adjourned because the victim had contacted the court saying she was interested in engaging in restorative justice with Grimmett.
Five days later, the restorative justice team came back with a letter saying all victims had declined to participate.
He had also been unable to participate in the rehabilitation he needs due to long wait lists, Hamlin said.
“Mr Grimmett seems to be graduating through a broken system.”
Hamlin sought discounts for his guilty pleas, his mental health and addiction issues and his harrowing background. The victim had said she forgave Grimmett despite being left shaken by the incident and wary while working in the evenings.
Judge Fitzgibbon, drawing on evidence provided by law firm Cooper Legal, who assisted him with his abuse-in-care claim, said Grimmett was in state care from 1990 to 2005, spanning the ages of 3 to 18.
He was in a range of residential care homes and 10 foster homes during his teen years, from which he ran away frequently to try to return to his mother.
In one facility, he was sometimes placed into a secure unit for 23 hours a day, which was too hot and where it was difficult to breathe, the court heard.
“In state care, you were treated appallingly,” the judge said.
“You experienced severe physical and psychological abuse.
“You were neglected and starved.”
As a result of his abuse in care, Grimmett can’t trust people in authority, Judge Fitzgibbon said.
The judge agreed with police that a starting point of 20 months in prison was appropriate for the March joyride.
Judge Fitzgibbon applied a 25% discount for his early guilty plea, 15% for his personal background and 5% for his remorse, including the fact he was willing to pay reparation to his victim.
She noted he had applied for a place at a residential rehabilitation programme but there was no space yet.
Judge Fitzgibbon sentenced him to 11 months’ imprisonment, with release conditions including rehabilitation. But the judge gave him leave to apply for home detention if a rehabilitation programme space becomes available.
He was also ordered to pay $1000 to the victim within 30 days and disqualified from driving for six months on each of the driving charges.
George Block is an Auckland-based reporter with a focus on police, the courts, prisons and defence. He joined the Herald in 2022 and has previously worked at Stuff in Auckland and the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.
