He initially defended the charge and took the matter to trial but entered a guilty plea on the third day of the trial, shortly after the Crown had presented its case. A co-accused woman was found not guilty of the same charge.
The court heard Holland played the role of the “catcher”, seeing him receive parcels containing the drugs from overseas senders.
On June 2, 2021, a parcel containing 470 grams of cocaine and addressed to his co-accused under a false name, was intercepted by customs.
It was one of three parcels sent to the address over a four-month period.
When the parcel didn’t arrive, Holland instructed his co-accused to ring the courier to find out where it was. The call, which was intercepted and recorded revealed an “insistent” Holland desperately trying to find out where the parcel was.
He spent the next 36 hours trying to track down the missing parcel and even offered his co-accused $10,000 if she could manage to find it.
He told the woman their heads “would roll” if they couldn’t retrieve the package and encouraged her to break into the neighbouring property to see if she could find it.
In court, Holland’s lawyer, Anselm Williams, said his client had no issues with the law for the first 40 years of his life and ran a “successful business”. But, his involvement with drugs sent him down a path of “low-level” offending.
Williams said Holland wasn’t “top of the chain” in the operation, or even any higher than someone who was simply receiving and passing on, maybe getting some money or “product” in return.
He said Holland wasn’t living a particularly “luxurious” lifestyle and lived in a sleepout at his parents’ property. He said the offending was fuelled by his drug addiction, which he is willing to address.
Crown prosecutor Christina Hallaway said any discount Holland would receive for his guilty plea should be “minimal” given its lateness and pointed out the seriousness of the offending.
Judge Jane Farish said meth had caused a “significant downfall” for Holland and the only appropriate sentence she could impose would be one of imprisonment.
She said the offending was worsened due to the amount of cocaine imported and Holland’s significant role in the operation, which she suspected was part of a larger crime syndicate.
“While you were the catcher you were still very aware. The importation would not have been possible without you in that role,” the judge said.
Judge Farish gave Holland discounts for his addiction issues, time spent on electronically monitored bail and time spent in custody.
She sentenced him to six years imprisonment, noting that as he had already spent more than 600 days in custody, he was eligible to go before the Parole Board.
Holland also pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while disqualified. He was convicted and discharged and disqualified from driving for six months, starting in February this year.
Emily Moorhouse is a Christchurch-based Open Justice journalist at NZME. She joined NZME in 2022. Before that, she was at the Christchurch Star.
