The Chatham Islands' William Tuuta Memorial Airport was damaged by the vandals early last year. Photo / Tourism NZ
The Chatham Islands' William Tuuta Memorial Airport was damaged by the vandals early last year. Photo / Tourism NZ
A group of young men caused $75,000 worth of damage to a plane and runway lights after breaking into the Chatham Islands airport and racing up and down the runway at speeds of 80km/h.
The group’s actions had a significant impact on the community, disrupting the export of seafood andpushing up grocery prices on the remote island.
“I will say at the outset that you are basically decent young men who were part of a group that, under the influence of alcohol, did a really stupid thing that put the whole Chatham Islands community at risk and caused actual financial harm to many islanders,” Judge Bill Hastings said while sentencing two co-defendants today.
The Wellington District Court heard the group’s actions not only caused $75,000 of damage to an Air Chathams plane and runway lights, it interrupted the arrival of groceries and halted the export of valuable crayfish, pāua and kina, resulting in divers losing work.
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One business experienced delays exporting 500kg of crayfish, while a second was forced to wait months for replacement parts for a fridge.
Exasperated locals described the group’s actions as “senseless vandalism” that significantly affected their community.
The court heard the impact was also compounded because the cargo ship which also serviced the island was out for maintenance at the time, putting more demands on the air service already under pressure.
And it had the potential to threaten the island’s medical evacuation service.
“Had there been a medical emergency - thankfully, there wasn’t - it would have been a pretty awful thing to discover that the plane wasn’t operable,” Judge Hastings said.
Judge: Dutch courage and peer pressure
The night’s events began when the group were drinking at a house on the island in February last year.
At some point, they climbed into two cars and drove to Te Whanga lagoon, where one of the vehicles got stuck. Undeterred, they climbed into the second vehicle, a Hilux ute, and headed to the airport.
William Tuuta Memorial Airport is in the middle of the Chatham Island lagoon. Photo / Tourism NZ
The court heard William Tuuta Memorial Airport has a perimeter fence with clear signage telling unauthorised personnel not to enter. The group drove up to a gate and waited while two of the group attempted to enter a code into the gate’s keypad.
When that failed, they drove the ute through the gate, forcing it off the rails and on to the ground. They drove up and down the runway, reaching speeds of 80km/h – the ute’s top speed – breaking several runway lights in the process.
They then crossed the airport’s apron towards a freight plane, breaking more runway lights. The group got out and five climbed on to the aircraft wing, filming and photographing themselves as they did so.
The plane’s wing was also damaged when the group tried to drive the ute underneath it, leaving it unable to fly.
The group left by another entrance, but not before propping up the damaged gate against the perimeter fence.
They caused $21,000 of damage to the airport and $55,000 in damage to the plane, which was insured. But $4167 was sought from each defendant to cover the $25,000 insurance excess.
Four men admitted charges of endangering transport and trespass, while two others were dealt with in another jurisdiction.
Earlier, Jacob Reihana Parkinson, who lives on Pitt Island, was sentenced to 300 hours of community work.
Today, Poliko Talaelei Tapu and Te Hinota Kururangi were sentenced, while a fourth man, who had since died, was convicted and discharged, with his name permanently suppressed.
In sentencing the pair, Judge Hastings noted the aggravating factors of the case, including the significant and costly damage and the potential harm if the aircraft had been flown without someone realising the extent of its damage.
This was a case of Dutch courage and peer pressure, the judge said while sentencing Tapu.
Tapu, who appeared by video link from Auckland, hadn’t climbed on the aircraft’s wing and only participated that night because he didn’t want to be left behind at the house.
He told the court he wanted to pay reparation, but couldn’t because he was unemployed.
Taking into account Tapu’s guilty plea, remorse, willingness to pay reparation, and the 15 months he’d already spent on curfew, Judge Hastings sentenced the now-29-year-old to four months’ community detention, six months’ supervision, and ordered him to do 150 hours of community work, as well as pay reparation of $4167. He was also ordered to undertake an alcohol and drug assessment and any counselling as appropriate.
The court heard Kururangi had visited the Air Chathams office the day after the incident and apologised to staff.
“That was a brave but necessary thing to do,” the judge said.
The 23-year-old also paid his share of the reparation.
Taking into account Kururangi’s youth, guilty plea, remorse, reparation payment, lack of convictions and young age, Judge Hastings sentenced him to 280 hours of community work.
Judge Hastings concluded his sentencing by thanking Crown prosecutor Sebastian Hartley and Kururangi’s lawyer, Shane Robinson, saying it was good to be able to draw a line under the case.
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.
