Blaketown man jailed over thousands of dollars in stolen goods

Jessie Thomas Fisher, 20, was imprisoned after being convicted of three charges of receiving and one of theft. Photo / File

A Blaketown man who was convicted of receiving thousands of dollars of goods from a series of burglaries around Greymouth, was yesterday jailed for nine months.

Jessie Thomas Fisher, 20, was imprisoned after being convicted of three charges of receiving and one of theft.

The Greymouth District Court heard that on May 15, $1500 of equipment was stolen in a burglary, and on May 25 a television, tools and food valued at $2300 was stolen from another address.

On May 23 a laptop computer, tablet and cigarette case, with a total value of $2000, were stolen from a third address.

Fisher was arrested on May 25, in a vehicle at his associate's home address. Two search warrants were issued the next day. The tools and other items were found at Fisher's home. He told police that the tools and food had been left there the night before by an associate. Two rings and a cigarette case were also found in his bedroom.

On May 24, Fisher was being driven from the West Coast to Christchurch by an associate, when they stopped at a Z service station to fill up with $68 of fuel; Fisher told the driver he had paid at the pump, and they drove off.

Lawyer Richard Bodle told the court that as Fisher could not provide an address suitable for home detention he was "resigned" to being sent to prison.

Mr Bodle asked for the sentence to reflect the fact that although there were a number of charges, the recent charges were not as serious as his earlier offending.

Fisher was not an "inherently bad person", he just appeared to drift, and that "appears to put him in mix with people who are dishonest".

Judge Brian Callaghan said the offending had occurred after Fisher had been released from prison in February, and while he was still subject to prison release conditions.

Judge Callaghan said that he suspected the receiving was to help Fisher pay for his synthetic cannabis habit.