Man who stole P ingredient gets six years' jail

One of four Bay of Plenty men charged over the theft of 1000 litres of a key methamphetamine ingredient from a Mt Maunganui factory has been jailed for six years.

In the biggest theft of its kind in New Zealand, police say the stolen hypophosphorous acid - with a black market value in excess of $1 million - taken in an overnight robbery on January 10 or 11 last year had the potential to make 900kg of P.

It potentially led to the production of up to $900 million of the illegal drug.

At a sentencing indication hearing in Tauranga District Court on Monday, Clark Castle, 33, of Welcome Bay, vacated his earlier denials and pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one count of conspiring to supply hypophosphorous acid capable of being used to manufacture P, knowing it was to be used for that purpose.

He also admitted two counts of possession of hypophosphorous acid capable of being used to manufacture P and intended to be so used.

The court heard how Castle was involved in an attempt to steal the acid on December 26 or 27, 2008, after which extra security measures were put in place.

But overnight in January, Castle and his alleged accomplices used bolt cutters to deactivate security lights and used a forklift and the bolt cutters to get into the shipping container which held the acid.

The acid had a legitimate commercial value of $8000 to the company but a street value of more than $1 million.

Castle also confessed that between December 20, 2008, and January 19, he conspired with others in Tauranga and elsewhere to supply the precursor to potential P cooks, and on January 30 was caught with some of the acid. More was found in his car on February 9.

One of Castle's associates, Terrence Rangihouhori Tata, 35, of Judea, who was not involved in the early burglary attempt but supplied the truck that was used in the January robbery, was jailed for five years on December 22 and must serve half his sentence before he is eligible to apply for parole.

In sentencing him, Judge Peter Rollo said the usual non-parole period would be inadequate for such grave offending.

Waiving his right to a pre-sentence report, Castle was sentenced on Monday by Judge Louis Bidois.

Counsel Craig Horsley said Castle had already spent 12 months on remand awaiting trial and would take his sentence "on the chin", but considered there was no basis for the huge difference from the sentence given to Tata because it was a joint enterprise. However, Castle accepted that an uplift was warranted because of extra offences, Mr Horsley said.

Judge Bidois agreed consistency of sentence was appropriate and noted Tata's sentence started at 6 years, before discounts for guilty pleas and mitigating factors.

The judge told Castle that after allowing a year uplift on an otherwise 6-year sentence, and after deducting 20 per cent for guilty pleas, that meant an end sentence of six years.

Judge Bidois said it was "almost trite" to explain how P had become a scourge in communities because it was highly addictive, damaging and at the centre of extreme violent offending. Castle must also serve half his sentence before he can apply for parole.

The remaining two alleged participants in the heist - Kerry Kakau, 34, of Mt Maunganui, and Richard Taingahue, 34, of Rangiwaea Island - are still awaiting trial, for which no dates have been set. Castle will be sentenced on other P-related matters in the High Court at Rotorua next month.