Simm was initially arrested in June 2021 for one count of burglary and one count of unlawful use of a credit card, but while on bail he picked up new charges in September and October that year. He was granted electronically monitored bail in December and vanished in January 2022. Police finally caught up to him in April 2022, but during that time he had been on the run he managed to commit a “substantial amount” of additional burglaries, the judge noted.
Some of his offences cited by Judge Jelas included:
- ramming an RTV vehicle filled with stolen tools into a roller door at Macleans College in September 2021 before leaving the Eastern Beach school with the tools loaded into another stolen vehicle;
- taking $1300 worth of coins from Wish Laundromat in Flat Bush in January 2022 after using a crowbar to force his way in;
- smashing the front window of The Village Winery Store in Mount Eden in February 2022, causing a display of wine bottles to topple as he took about $400 worth of spirits;
- kicking open the door of Dean Greenwood Swim School in New Windsor in February 2022, then smashing an interior office window before leaving with a cash register and some lollies;
- using a sledgehammer in March 2022 to shatter a large window at a Blockhouse Bay Countdown supermarket and attempting unsuccessfully to force open a cigarette cabinet before settling on $300 worth of Kinder Surprise Eggs;
- ram raiding Sandringham Liquor Store in March 2022 and using an angle grinder to open a cigarette cabinet, taking $2000 worth of stock;
- putting over $7000 worth of charges on a credit card over a three-hour period in March 2022, just hours after the card was taken from a safe during a burglary at Commonsense Organics in Mount Eden;
- stealing $3300 worth of tools from Pakuranga College in March 2022;
- using a rock to shatter a door at Pakuranga Vet Clinic in March 2022 before leaving with $50 of charity money and two bags of prescription dog food;
- gaining access in April 2022 to an enclosed yard at PlaceMakers in Mt Wellington before using a $274,000 company truck loaded with $80,000 worth of materials to smash through a barrier and locked gate. The damaged truck was later found abandoned about 7km away, with about $12,000 worth of goods missing, although police acknowledged some of the material could have been taken by passersby.
Simm at one point this year had over 50 pending cases listed at Auckland District Court, but the charges were pared down significantly for sentencing this week.
He wrote a letter of apology to the judge and was supported in court by a large group of family members.
During the hearing, Judge Jelas noted Simm was first convicted of burglary in 2013 but his most serious prior sentence had been six months of community detention. A report prepared for the sentencing noted long-term substance abuse issues, including drinking since the age of 11 and methamphetamine use by age 16, resulting in his gang involvement with Black Power then later the Head Hunters.
Simm at one point became a qualified dairy farmer, overseeing a herd of 500, but was only able to maintain the job for two years before his escalating addictions took over.
“Over the years your addiction has grown, fueled in part by your gang involvement and other activities [and] in time turned into a gambling addiction as well,” Judge Jelas said.
At the height of his addiction, he was using about 3 to 4 grams of meth a day and would at times lose up to $10,000 in one night to gambling, he estimated.
Before announcing the sentence, the judge read aloud passages from several of Simm’s victims, including the property manager at Pakuranga College who said they were still in disbelief someone would target a school. The owner of a Howick petrol station said they still feel unsafe while the owner of a Flat Bush laundromat noted that te business had been burgled three times in just six months.
“I feel so tired of it,” the owner said.
The judge strongly recommended Simm consider rehab when he gets paroled. He has remained in jail awaiting the resolution of his charges since last year, when police caught up to him following the ankle monitor incident.
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.
