Christchurch man lies about having cancer to get lighter sentence, holds gun to taxi driver’s head when reoffending

Daniel Leahy asked a previous judge not to send him to prison so he could do a "farewell tour" as he was likely to die in a year from cancer, but more than a year on he was back in court after holding a gun to a taxi driver's head. Photo / 123rf

A judge has scolded a man for lying about a cancer diagnosis that would likely see him dead in a year to get a lighter sentence after he appeared alive and well in court more than a year later for holding a gun to a taxi driver’s head.

The man asked the previous judge not to send him to prison so he could travel around the country doing a “farewell tour”, promising he wouldn’t reoffend.

Now, a different judge, who was surprised to see the man still alive, has highlighted the issue with some defendants lying about their health to receive “discounts” when being sentenced.

Daniel Leahy, 32, appeared at the Christchurch District Court for sentence on Wednesday, along with his co-offender Latia Tipa-McQueen, 20, after the pair stole a taxi after holding a gun to the driver’s head in Upper Riccarton.

But the sentencing judge, Tom Gilbert, said Leahy’s history revealed some significant issues with section 27 reports when it comes to sentencing defendants.

The section 27 report allows an offender to request that the court hears about their personal and cultural background, which may have led to the offending, under to the Sentencing Act 2002. This often results in a sentence reduction.

Judge Gilbert said many offenders that come through the court realise the benefits that arise from section 27 reports, resulting in “inventing stories such as terminal cancer”.

“At the last sentence [Leahy] came up with a monumental untruth which was bought by the judge which then affected his end sentence,” Judge Gilbert said.

The man still received a term of imprisonment at his last sentence but the “cancer diagnosis” was taken into account during the sentencing process.

Judge Tom Gilbert said it's important that report writers ensure the material provided to the court about an offender's background is factual to avoid "inventing stories such as terminal cancer". Photo / 123rf

The judge said the section 27 reports were based solely on an individual’s “say-so” and it was important that report writers go to some lengths to “obtain independent corroboration” to ensure the information is factual.

“This highlights a substantial issue we have which is taking at face value what people say which ain’t right.”

The offending

According to the summary of facts, on May 20 last year at around 7.20pm, Tipa-McQueen called for a taxi to pick her and Leahy up from a motel in Upper Riccarton.

The court heard the pair had planned to travel to Oamaru to “knee-cap” someone. Leahy had a 12-gauge shotgun hidden up his shirt with three rounds of ammunition in his pocket and 28 in a backpack.

The Blue Star taxi arrived at the motel a short while later and the pair got in the back seats, asking to go to Hornby Mall.

Just 500m into the journey the driver said he heard a gun being loaded and felt it being pressed against his head.

Leahy then said to him “It’s real. I’ll shoot you”, and told the driver to pull over.

The driver pulled over and managed to flee from the vehicle around the Church Corner area in Riccarton, and ran off where he got help from two members of the public who called the police.

Meanwhile, Leahy got into the driver’s seat while Tipa-McQueen got into the passenger’s seat and the pair fled the scene, heading towards Ashburton.

Tipa-McQueen pulled the dashboard camera from its mount and threw it out the window along with the taxi driver’s phone.

The taxi’s GPS system allowed police to track the car and it was stopped in Ashburton around 8.30pm.

The pair were removed from the taxi and the car was searched, revealing the shotgun which was not loaded in the passenger footwell as well as the ammunition in the backpack and Leahy’s pocket.

After the incident last year, the driver told the Herald that he’d been left shaken by the incident but would continue to work as a taxi driver.

Leahy was charged with aggravated robbery with a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and driving dangerously.

Tipa-McQueen was charged with aggravated robbery with a firearm and wilful damage.

She also faced three assault charges for unrelated offending when she bit, scratched, punched and kicked Corrections officers and a police officer during a hospital visit while in custody.

‘Benefit of the doubt’

Leahy’s lawyer Todd Nicholls argued that the gun was never loaded, asking the court to give his client the “benefit of the doubt”.

Nicholls said Leahy’s background could only be described as “horrific” and he had embraced gang life because he needed a “sense of belonging”.

Nicholls said the incident was not premeditated, stating the taxi was the first one his client saw, and Leahy had shown genuine remorse for his actions.

However, Crown prosecutor William Taffs submitted the offending was “highly premeditated”, stating Leahy had much more violent plans to go to Oamaru and “shoot or knee-cap someone”.

Taffs said if it wasn’t for the intervention of the police, the court would be looking at a far more serious offence, as Leahy was “willing to sacrifice his life to rid the world of some people”.

Taffs rejected the idea that this was “a rush of blood to the head’ type of offending, instead, Leahy was prepared to use robbing a taxi driver to fulfil his criminal activity.

A ‘vulnerable’ woman

Tipa-McQueen’s lawyer Phillip Allan said his client was panicking and fearful of the situation which she “didn’t choose” to be involved with.

Allan said while his client had admitted the initial plan of going to Oamaru to “deal with someone” she was hopeful that on the journey, she would be able to talk Leahy out of this.

“If she crossed him, she was concerned she was going to be one of his victims.”

Allan said Tipa-McQueen was a “damaged and vulnerable young woman” who had a difficult upbringing which should be considered when the judge sentenced her.

However, Taffs pushed back against this, stating that a “bad childhood” does not necessarily lead a person to offend in the way Tipa-McQueen did.

“The Crown doesn’t accept that she was along for the ride. She was well in the thick of it and had knowledge of what was going to happen,” he told the judge.

Judge Gilbert noted that both the defendants had a difficult start to life, stating he wasn’t surprised to see them in the position they are in today.

The judge said Leahy had a long criminal history of violence and dishonesty, stating the offending was premeditated to “some extent”.

He sentenced Leahy to four years and 10 months imprisonment, disqualified him from driving for 12 months and ordered the destruction of the firearm.

Judge Gilbert noted that Tipa-McQueen’s offending happened only 19 days after she was released from prison for violent offences.

“At some point, you’re going to need to make a decision to do this differently”, he told Tipa-McQueen, noting she still had her whole life ahead of her.

He sentenced Tipa-McQueen to two years and seven months imprisonment. The Parole Board will assess when she is to be released and what conditions of release will apply.