Rapist Hoani McIlroy in the Rotorua District Court for sentencing. Photo / Kelly Makiha
WARNING: This story details rape and may be distressing for some readers.
Two vulnerable women living alone in Rotorua emergency housing motels were preyed on and repeatedly raped and sexually violated by a “501″ deportee.
The actions of the rapist, Hoani McIlroy, 28, were described in court as gratuitous, callous, degrading and violent.
McIlroy was sentenced to 14 years’ jail on 19 charges when he appeared yesterday in the Rotorua District Court before Judge John Bergseng.
The judge agreed with Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy that McIlroy’s offending was so serious that he should be given a minimum period of imprisonment.
McIlroy is not eligible for parole until he’s served at least seven years behind bars.
Before going through the details of the offending, Judge Bergseng warned the public gallery they were welcome to leave if they became too upset listening to the facts of the case.
McIlroy’s offending spanned six weeks between October 21, 2022, and December 2, 2022.
Judge Bergseng said McIlroy met the first woman by chance at a money machine after a group of associates went to withdraw cash to buy methamphetamine.
The woman felt intimidated into giving McIlroy her money card and PIN. Hours later, he withdrew $200 from her account.
Four days later, McIlroy went to the woman’s motel unit and let himself in through her unlocked door, despite her not being home. He left a short time later.
He returned after she arrived home and commented that he was her “stalker”.
He forced her on to a bed and committed a range of “violent” and “degrading” sexual offences against her, including raping her.
Judge Bergseng said the woman told him to stop, but he responded by calling her a “bitch” and a “whore”.
The offending lasted several hours. He stole a range of her personal items before leaving.
On November 4, McIlroy was socialising with people at another woman’s emergency housing motel unit.
He asked the woman to walk him home. She didn’t want to, but he assured her it wouldn’t take long.
Once at his home, he raped and sexually assaulted her over two to three hours.
On December 2, he went to the woman’s emergency housing motel unit uninvited and locked the door behind him.
He again violently raped and sexually assaulted her.
He bit her and threatened to “knock her out” and “smash her over”.
The ordeal lasted about three hours, and he told the woman she was “his now, for him to have sex with her when he felt like it”.
He took her phone when he left.
Judge Bergseng said the impacts were serious on both women, particularly the first victim.
He said she felt as if she were going to die and had lasting fears. She suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and struggled to sleep.
She said her drug addiction worsened at the time as she tried to block out what had happened.
The second woman said she suffered flashbacks and constantly checked her doors.
She felt unsupported by those around her at the time and was forced to move to another emergency housing motel with 24-hour security.
Both women now struggled to live alone.
A pre-sentence report showed McIlroy had a troubled upbringing, experiencing dysfunction and abandonment.
He was moved to Australia as a child but found himself living on the streets by the age of 16, getting involved in cannabis and methamphetamine use.
McConachy said McIlroy was deported back to New Zealand in 2018 as a “501″ after several convictions in Australia.
A “501” refers to a person deported from Australia to New Zealand under Section 501 of Australia’s Migration Act.
Considered a controversial policy, it allowed visa cancellation for non-citizens with criminal records.
Judge Bergseng said McIlroy sought a “place of belonging” once back in New Zealand and turned to the Mongrel Mob.
McIlroy was sentenced on 19 charges.
Relating to the first victim, he admitted one charge of rape, three charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection (including one representative charge) and two charges of theft. A representative charge means the offence happened more than once.
Relating to the second victim, he admitted two representative rape charges and two representative charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.
Judge Bergseng gave a starting point of 16 years and six months in prison and allowed a total discount of 15%, or two-and-a-half years, for his guilty plea and factors in his background.
The end sentence was 14 years.
“I found a minimum period of imprisonment is warranted. The reason for that is your offending was such that it involved a high degree of violence over and above that inherent sexual violation. There was a degree of callousness and degrading behaviour on your part towards the victims.”
He said the fact that there were two victims and the fact the offending happened over three different occasions were factors he considered.
He said there was no remorse, and the public needed to be protected from the defendant.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.