Woman involved in rural Hamilton robbery where victims held till dawn appeals sentence

A group of people were robbed at this Rotokauri home on January 16 and 17, 2021. Photo / Google maps

A woman involved in a serious robbery, holding victims in a house for several hours against their will and assaulting them, believes her sentence should be shorter.

Shannon Jenifer Avery was sentenced to two years and eight months imprisonment last September on charges of robbery and assault with a weapon for her involvement in the rural Hamilton offending.

On Monday her case was back in court, this time before the Court of Appeal in Wellington.

Avery’s argument is that the start point of four and a half years taken by the sentencing judge was too high, and her discounts weren’t sufficient.

The offending relates to charges of robbery and assault with a weapon after Avery and her co-accused, Tom Mudford, pleaded guilty to the lesser charges at the beginning of their second jury trial, the first aborted.

Initially the pair were facing multiple counts of aggravated robbery and kidnapping. Avery was also facing an additional charge of assault using a knife as a weapon, and Mudford faced two charges of assault using a hammer as a weapon.

They instead accepted a single charge of robbery and assault with a weapon after a conversation with Crown at the beginning of their second trial.

A third co-accused, Maxine Danielle McWaters was sentenced on just one charge of robbery.

In January 2021, they arrived at a Rotokauri house before the four victims arrived in their car.

An “encounter” had happened the day before and the group laid in wait for the four victims at the rural Hamilton address, where they stood over the two men and two women.

The group took items from their victims including jewellery, handbags and phone cards. They also demanded they hand over and reset their cell phones.

The victims were kept in a house on the property until dawn, and Avery’s co-offender Mudford struck one of the men on the back of his head with a hammer.

Avery had held a knife to a victim’s waist in a vehicle as they met the victim’s mother to get money.

At sentencing, Avery’s lawyer Gerard Walsh said her behaviour had been “exemplary” while on bail, and she had undergone a large amount of rehabilitation since.

Sentencing Justice Pheroze Jagose took these matters into consideration at sentence handing down two years and eight months behind bars to Avery for her role in the offending.

At the appeal this week her lawyer Melissa James argued the starting point for Avery’s sentence Justice Jagose imposed, four years and six months, was too high and claimed the mitigating factors weren’t given enough weight.

James argued her client had played a lesser role than her co-offender Mudford, who received the same starting point and Avery should therefore be given a lesser sentence upon appeal.

Avery was given discounts for an early guilty plea, and other mitigating factors such as her commitment to rehabilitation.

James believed discounts for remorse and attempts at rehabilitation preceding her offending were given “insufficient credit” by Justice Jagose.

Lawyer Rebecca Mann, on behalf of the crown, submitted the sentence was appropriate given Avery’s involvement in the offending.

She said Avery had covered the victims head as they travelled to the area where they would wait to collect money, and her role in the offending overall was higher than her female co-accused.

Mann said the discounts given were “generous” and “relatively substantial”, and the sentence was “well within range”, asking the court to uphold Avery’s sentence of two years and eight months.

The decision of the court was reserved.