Aaron Drever appearing at Auckland District Court for sentencing in August 2022. Photo / Michael Craig
Aaron Drever appearing at Auckland District Court for sentencing in August 2022. Photo / Michael Craig
Aaron Carl Drever requested home detention after a “savage” assault in prison.
The Crown argued Drever is a “calculated criminal” with little self-awareness.
Justice David Johnstone has dismissed Drever’s appeal in a reserved decision.
A disgraced former real estate agent and convicted fraudster who asked the court to swap prison for home detention in recognition of a “savage” assault he suffered behind bars has lost his appeal.
Aaron Carl Drever was jailed for 15 months in March after admitting insolvency charges and impersonating a rich businessman, relating to his management role with a fast food business while an undischarged bankrupt.
The Crown described Drever, 41 - who was once one of the country’s top real estate agents - as a calculated criminal who committed “cynical fraud offending against the bankruptcy regime” while on bail for other crimes.
However, his lawyer Shannon Withers argued the sentencing judge should have used his discretion to commute the sentence to home detention.
At an appeal hearing last week in the High Court at Auckland, Withers argued Drever should be allowed to serve his sentence at home after being “seriously and savagely assaulted” by another inmate during his first prison stint for fraud offending.
In a reserved decision handed down yesterday, Justice David Johnstone threw out the appeal, ruling there had been no error by the sentencing judge.
He said Drever’s offending showed his “disregard of the constraints he was under as a bankrupt, and his unwillingness to accept accountability for harm done to others”.
Drever’s mindset made it appropriate to prioritise “rehabilitative possibilities over other sentencing purposes”, such as holding Drever accountable for harm, promoting a sense of responsibility and acknowledgement of that harm, “and protecting the community from him”.
Aaron Drever appears at Auckland District Court for sentencing. Photo / Michael Craig
Justice Johnstone said at sentencing, Judge Evangelos Thomas had described Drever’s bankruptcy offending as “reckless and deliberate and cynical”.
Judge Thomas had described Drever’s earlier period of incarceration as “particularly difficult”, but added it had not seemed to develop in Drever “a level of insight that might lower his risk of re-offending”.
In fact a sentencing report showed “an extremely disappointing lack of insight and understanding and remorse and self-awareness and honesty”.
Home detention was therefore ruled out at Drever’s March sentencing.
In the latest decision, Justice Johnstone said Drever’s lawyer submitted that the sentencing judge had “overemphasised deterrence and did not sufficiently consider the rehabilitative possibilities of a sentence other than imprisonment”.
The lawyer had also argued the judge failed to take into account Drever’s particular circumstances, meaning a jail term was “disproportionately severe”.
Former West Auckland real estate agent Aaron Drever sold hundreds of homes and made millions of dollars in commission. Photo / Brett Phibbs
“He says that, following the November 2022 prison attack ... Mr Drever is particularly anxious and fearful, spending as much time as he can in his room with the door locked.
“His room forms part of a house in which he and other prisoners live. The house is in a segregated wing of the prison, but the wing (including, in particular the house) houses violent prisoners.”
Justice Johnstone said he did not accept these submissions.
The judge described a “remarkable lack of insight, understanding or remorse” by Drever.
His offending confirmed his “disregard of the constraints he was under as a bankrupt, and his unwillingness to accept accountability for harm done to others”.
In the absence of a formal psychological report, Justice Johnstone did not believe Drever’s custodial arrangements gave rise to “unusual, or disproportionately severe” consequences.
The prison sentence would therefore stand and the appeal was dismissed.
A history of offending
The Crown argued last week that Drever had little self-awareness about the harm resulting from his offending and wanted him to remain incarcerated.
Judge Thomas - who greeted Drever with a “welcome back” as his case was called earlier this year - had told him it was one of the “worst examples of people deliberately circumventing their bankruptcy obligations” he had seen.
Drever - a former real estate agent who sold hundreds of homes and made millions of dollars in commission - appealed the 15-month jail sentence.
Withers said that while a sentencing report found Drever still presented a risk of re-offending, it had recommended home detention be imposed.
Drever had suffered horrific injuries in the prison assault.
The Herald reported at the time how an inmate attacked Drever in Northland’s Ngawha Prison kitchen, ripping open his nasal cavity with a metal hook.
Aaron Drever pictured working as a caterer during an event attended by Prime Minister Chris Luxon. Photo / Alex Burton
Withers said Drever was believed to have developed post-traumatic stress disorder and was fearful of suffering further violence after being sent back to prison.
“The appellant describes the sentence and attack as life-altering.”
Quoting Drever, Withers said: “Even now I have recurring nightmares. I wake up in a cold sweat remembering the overwhelming sense of vulnerability”.
Withers said the experience Drever had suffered in prison “is one that’s going to have continuing effects on his mental health and wellbeing”.
Withers said the court should impose the least restrictive outcome available, and it was desirable to manage offenders in the community rather than in prison.
He had undergone counselling sessions behind bars with a psychologist in a bid to address his behaviour.
Bill Buckley gave Aaron Drever a job at Auckland Speedway. Drever repaid him by stealing $100,000. Photo / Michael Craig
The behaviour included stealing about $500,000 from Avondale Bowling Club in a cunning land deal and another $100,000 from his good friend Bill Buckley at Auckland Speedway - offending for which he was jailed for two years and two months in August 2022.
A restorative justice payment plan to reimburse his victims was at risk by his continued incarceration, Withers said.
He added that Drever was prepared to pay reparation to the victims of his latest offending.
However, Justice Johnstone pointed out that as an undischarged bankrupt who no longer had control of his finances, this was not a promise Drever could legally make.
‘Offending caused significant harm’
Crown prosecutor Dennis Dow said imprisonment was an appropriate sentence for Drever’s “calculated” and “cynical” crimes.
Drever took steps to conceal what he was doing, including using a false name.
“The offending caused significant harm and all occurred while he was on bail for other offending.”
Comments by Drever showed he had little self-awareness about his offending or its effect on other people, Dow told the court.
Drever had described his crimes as making “tick box errors” or “flipping houses as some disclosure errors”.
However, Dow said Drever’s offending against the Avondale Bowling Club was “significant unjust enrichment” to the detriment of his victims.
Drever’s chequered history as a real estate agent included notching up the country’s highest number of adverse disciplinary findings and eventually being struck off for misconduct.
But Drever had claimed “effectively everyone was doing it”, Dow said.
Dow urged the court to take letters of support written about Drever’s character with a grain of salt, as they were likely “coloured” by Drever’s own version of events.
“He’s not entirely candid with those around him about his conduct and offending.”
