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Man jailed for vicious Wellington home invasion
A man involved in a vicious central Wellington home invasion in January, allegedly with convicted murderer Graeme Burton, was jailed for six years today.
In Wellington District Court, Scott Elliott, 30, who is already serving a prison term, was sentenced on
a charge of aggravated robbery.
Elliott pleaded guilty in May.
The court was told Elliott and another man alleged to be Graeme Burton entered a Wellington apartment used as a high-end drug dealing base on January 3 - three days before Burton murdered Wainuiomata father-of-two Karl Kuchenbecker in the hills above Lower Hutt.
They turned the power to the apartment off before smashing open a locked door and confronting and beating a male occupant with a police-style baton.
Judge Susan Thomas said it was alleged Burton was carrying a revolver and pointed it at the man's head while demanding money.
Elliott searched the rest of the apartment and found a woman hiding in a closet with a cellphone.
He checked the phone's recently dialled numbers, found she had called police and responded by calling them himself and explaining it had been a prank call and to ignore it.
The male victim, a convicted drug dealer who has name suppression, suffered a broken nose, fractured eye socket and serious cuts and bruises, spending two days in hospital and taking several weeks to recover.
Defence lawyer Chris Tennet argued today that the most serious aspects of the offending were carried out by Burton and Elliott was more or less under duress from him.
He said Elliott, who had amassed 26 previous convictions in the past 10 years, had spent time in Rimutaka Prison's violence prevention unit with Burton before the Wellington attack and had been bullied and threatened by him.
"He was doing well until Burton emerged back into his life," Mr Tennet said.
Judge Thomas said Elliott's involvement in the crime was serious and the effect on the male victim was severe.
"He feels lucky to be alive and thought he was going to be killed. He now lives constantly in fear," she said.
Elliott, who was caught within hours of the attack, is already serving a prison sentence for aggravated robbery and was not due for release until October next year.
Burton, who is serving a life sentence for Mr Kuchenbecker's murder, has pleaded not guilty to his alleged involvement in the attack.
- NZPA
