Jacob Blake sentenced for Christchurch van thefts and drug‑fuelled crime spree

Jacob Blake stole several vehicles during his crime spree across Christchurch. Photo / NZME

A man leapt into his van in an attempt to wrangle it back from a thief who was trying to drive off in it, only to suffer injuries as his leg hung out the door while the vehicle travelled for 100m.

The thief, Jacob Blake, was in the midst of a methamphetamine addiction when he carried out a crime spree around Christchurch.

Blake, 33, had absconded in January while on a sentence of intensive supervision for other offending when the driver of the Nissan van left the vehicle unlocked with the keys on the passenger seat.

The victim was unloading items into a building in Waltham, about 5m from his van, when Blake got into the driver’s seat and started it up.

The man leapt into the passenger seat and tried to stop him from driving off.

But Blake drove the van about 100m as the victim’s leg hung out of the door, before crashing into a parked vehicle.

The victim suffered cuts, bruises and abrasions to both of his legs and his right forearm.

Less than three hours later, Blake was at it again but this time in the suburb of Mairehau.

The owner of a Toyota van was unloading items into a property and had left the vehicle unlocked with his keys inside.

While the victim was in the property, Blake got into the van and drove off towards the city, stopping at a convenience store along the way.

Only days prior, Blake got into a fight near his Linwood home and brandished a machete.

It followed the theft of two Mini Cooper vehicles worth a combined $35,000 from a Christchurch car yard.

The cars were yet to be registered in New Zealand and did not have licence plates.

Blake was seen driving one of them with stolen plates three days later when he filled it with fuel and left a petrol station without paying.

He was spotted in the second Mini two days after, again with stolen plates, while at a McDonald’s.

The incidents were a few of many over several months, which culminated in his arrest when police stopped him for riding a bicycle without a helmet.

Blake provided a false name, then yelled out that he had to be home for curfew.

He biked off at speed and didn’t stop for the police until the back tyre of his bicycle blew out.

Police used pepper spray to arrest him and took him into custody.

This week, he appeared for sentencing in the Christchurch District Court, where Judge Katie Elkin said he had an extensive criminal history.

She said his last stint in prison was in 2023 and much of his offending was fuelled by drug addiction.

Judge Elkin jailed him for two years and five months for his latest crime spree.

Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands News.