Ex-Green MP Golriz Ghahraman to find out punishment for shoplifting today

Former Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman will find out her punishment today for shoplifting more than $9000 worth of clothing.

Her sentence will be handed down by Judge June Jelas at 1pm at in Auckland District Court.

Judge Jelas confirmed at the sentencing hearing on Monday that her sentence would not include prison time.

Ghahraman’s defence lawyer Annabel Cresswell told the court that a mental health report about Ghahraman was the crux of her submissions.

It found a “clear diagnosis of complex PTSD” with two key contributing factors: her early life in war-torn Iran and the “public vitriol, threats and abuse” she received while in Parliament.

Ghahraman told Stuff she was not “playing a mental health card”.

“Nobody’s getting off easy by publicly talking about being f***** in the head, being someone who’s in a mental health crisis,” she said.

“What I’d say about the whole, playing a ‘mental health card’ thing, is it’s the hardest thing in the world.”

On Monday, Cresswell said the “threats of rape and death were constant and ongoing and credible”, to the point where her security detail was similar to that of the Prime Minister.

Golriz Ghahraman in the Auckland District Court for sentencing on shoplifting charges. Photo / Nick Monro, RNZ

She described “loss-reactive shoplifting” in which otherwise law-abiding individuals steal as part of a mental health crisis.

The fact she had so much to lose showed a mental health crisis, Cresswell said.

“This offending was extraordinarily out of character,” she explained. “She didn’t need the items that were taken.”

Ghahraman admitted to stealing nearly $9000 worth of retail items from high-end stores in Auckland and Wellington, which saw the downfall of her political career.

The 43-year-old defendant, who hasn’t practised law since her high-profile ascension to Parliament in 2017, was expected to seek a discharge without conviction.

Cresswell noted her client was a “talented academic and lawyer”, which was important to consider.

“It is a conviction that could stop Ms Ghahraman from moving onwards and forward from this offending.”

Crown Solicitor Alysha McClintock said the offending had the hallmarks of pre-meditation.

“This was a spree of offending. It’s not a one-off event. It’s not a ‘moment of madness’-type case.”

She resigned from Parliament on January 16. Ghahraman, who until days earlier had been the Green Party’s justice spokeswoman, left it to party leaders to front media. But in a written statement she apologised for her “completely out of character” behaviour.