Johnson-Khoun had previously accepted a sentence indication from Judge Clark stating a nine-year start point and allowing 25 per cent discounts for his guilty pleas and “at least” 15 per cent for youth.
But at his sentencing, defence lawyer Mark Sturm worked to secure more credit on the grounds of the teen’s upbringing and remorse.
Crown solicitor Rebecca Mann urged the judge to keep any credit for his upbringing, detailed in a cultural report, “modest” given the judge’s already “generous discounts” for his guilty pleas and youth.
Mann said any remorse, indicated in a letter handed to the judge, should fall into remorse already taken into account with his guilty pleas.
However, Sturm submitted the judge was able to apply up to 30 per cent for the cultural report, as the law allowed, and as Johnson-Khoun deserved.
He was still a teen and endured a “deprived background” with his report detailing the “bleak story of his upbringing”.
Sturm said it wasn’t surprising he had gone down the path of alcohol and drug abuse from a young age.
He had also wanted to attend restorative justice conferences with the victims but they didn’t go ahead, he said.
Sturm also reminded Judge Clark that this would be the teen’s first term of imprisonment and it would have a “significant impact on him”.
‘Pursuit, shooting, armed robberies’
Johnson-Khoun was jailed on seven charges relating to three separate incidents. One charge was for using a firearm against law enforcement.
On April 25 last year, the teen was a backseat passenger in a car as it travelled along Clyde St.
Police began following it, without the lights or sirens activated, before laying road spikes further down the street.
The fleeing vehicle drove straight over them, deflating all four tyres, however, they sped off and turned down Naylor St.
The left rear tyre then came completely off but they managed to keep driving, going down various streets before ending up on Cambridge Rd, then Morrinsville Rd.
As they travelled, the person in the front passenger seat leaned out the window with a full-length pump action shotgun, pointing it at the following patrol car.
The officer driving the patrol vehicle noticed the firearm and braked, to give more distance between the cars.
Around the same time, a shot was fired, with the bullet hitting the bonnet.
Police continued to follow and again, the person leaned out the window with the firearm but this time pointed it at a member of the public’s vehicle.
Officers again slowed down but once clear of residential houses, they activated their lights.
As the car turned onto Matangi Rd, it crashed into a gate and all four occupants fled on foot. Johnson-Khoun was found nearby.
Officers searched the car and found one ammunition round jammed in the firearm, one live shell in the footwell, and another spent cartridge.
When questioned, he told police how he instructed his co-offender to shoot at them.
A charge of assault with intent to rob relates to the Bottle-O in Rototuna on September 26, 2022.
He and a co-offender, who was armed with a machete, walked into the store as the machete was swung at bottles, smashing them and frightening the lone shop attendant.
Johnson-Khoun also admitted charges of aggravated robbery, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and failing to stop after the robbery of the Super Liquor Flagstaff on January 29 last year.
The car was spotted by police shortly afterwards and a pursuit began but was quickly abandoned by police.
In their victim impact statements, one of the officers who was shot at said he feared for his life and his family was upset and continued to fear for his safety when he left for work each day.
The other officer was relatively new at the time and experienced a sense of shock as he didn’t know what was going to happen to him.
Judge Clark found a link between Johnson-Khoun’s upbringing and his offending and agreed to issue a further 15 per cent for the contents of the cultural report which outlined the challenges he faced growing up, along with another 5 per cent for his letter of remorse.
A six-month disqualification from driving would kick in once Johnson-Khoun was released from prison.
While police sought reparation totalling $2900, the judge declined to order it as the teen had no means to pay.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20.
