NZ's first privately-owned jail opened today. Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga invoked one of the world's most famous prisoners, Nelson Mandela, when he opened a new prison at Wiri today.
"No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails," the minister said, quoting Mandela.
He said New Zealand was at a crossroads.
"Do we really want to lock up our prisoners and throw away the key?" he asked.
"Do we really want to write off most of our most disadvantaged citizens?"
Pascal Atiga-Bridger and his daughter were sentenced to community service for smuggling cannabis resin into a prison.
The charges of supplying and distributing cannabis, which could lead to 14 years’ imprisonment, were dropped.
Atiga-Bridger’s daughter was convicted and given 40 hours of community service despite seeking a discharge without conviction.
A well-known artist and his adult daughter have been sentenced to community service after using a baby as a decoy while trying to smuggle capsules of cannabis resin into an Auckland prison.
Authorities initially charged Pascal Atiga-Bridger, 47, with supplying and distributing the ClassB drug, as well as illegally delivering an item to a prisoner during the September 2023 visit at the privately operated Auckland South Corrections Facility in Wiri.
The supplying and distributing charges carry a maximum possible sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment, while the unauthorised delivery charge is punishable by up to three months’ imprisonment.
The more serious charges, however, were later dropped.
Authorities alleged Atiga-Bridger and his daughter were in the visiting room of the prison – meeting with his son, who was an inmate – when the attempted exchange was caught on CCTV.
Before leaving, Atiga-Bridger passed his son a baby and a small package, the latter of which the inmate immediately stuffed down his shirt. The inmate’s sister then passed another small package before Atiga-Bridger slipped him a third one.
Artist Pascal Atiga-Bridger works on a mural at the Westfield Manukau mall. Photo / Supplied
“You all hugged goodbye before leaving,” Judge Yelana Yelavich recounted this week as she sentenced Atiga-Bridger’s daughter at Manukau District Court.
Atiga-Bridger’s son was searched as he left the area, and prison guards found 66g of tobacco and 10.5g of cannabis resin inside 13 capsules. Two small packages of tobacco were found on the floor of the visiting room.
Atiga-Bridger was sentenced in November to 40 hours of community work.
The graffiti artist rose in notoriety at first through his illegal tagging before going back to school at age 39 to study art, he told a Local Democracy reporter in 2021. His profile rose as he transitioned to commissioned street murals, earning steady pay through Auckland’s Beautification Trust.
“Tagging was just a thing I did at school, it was a trend I was following, and you got an adrenaline buzz out of it, knowing you were doing something you shouldn’t be doing,” he said. “So it is a bit ironic that I’ve come full circle and now I get paid [to paint].”
He also ran workshops with high school students, encouraging them to make a career out of art sooner than he did.
Pascal Atiga-Bridger attends the opening of his art show in 2017. Photo / Supplied
During this week’s hearing, Atiga-Bridger’s 27-year-old daughter asked for a discharge without conviction.
Defence lawyer Kelly-Ann Stoikoff pointed out that her client is on a benefit but had recently completed training to become a real estate agent and had passed her exam. The only thing left to do, she said, was to obtain her licence. But that last crucial step could be hindered if she had a conviction on her record, Stoikoff said.
“[She] has now completed everything she has set out to do to improve her life,” Stoikoff said of the mother of three, adding that she has worked hard but the last part is out of her hands. “She has done everything she needs to do to reach her goal.”
Crown prosecutor Nina Wilgur opposed the request, describing it as too speculative to reach the high bar needed for a discharge without conviction.
A conviction does not automatically disqualify someone from receiving a licence, she noted, explaining that the Real Estate Institute will look at the nature and gravity of the offence before deciding whether she is a fit and proper person to work in the industry. She noted that the defendant has been assessed as having good prospects for rehabilitation.
“A conviction of this nature will not make you ineligible,” she said. “The authority would look at all of your circumstances.”
She ordered a conviction along with 40 hours of community service.
“I don’t agree with your decision!” the defendant said as she left the dock, continuing to yell for a prolonged period as she exited the courtroom and continued down the hallway. “You’re hindering my chance at success!”
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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