Toddler in distress as parents sent to prison

A toddler screamed as she and her siblings rushed to kiss their parents goodbye when they were led away to begin lengthy prison sentences for masterminding the manufacture of thousands of dollars worth of P at their rented Hawke's Bay home.

Patched Black Power member Richard John Samuel Te Rure, 38, was sentenced to 12 years prison for masterminding a manufacturing operating in Napier while partner Donna Marise Wilson, 41, received a 10-year sentence.

The sentences handed down in the High Court at Napier are believed to be among the longest given in Hawke's Bay for the production of methamphetamine.

Their children, who watched from the public gallery as their parents were led away by security officers, had been sent to the supermarket to buy items necessary for the production of the pure form of methamphetamine commonly known as P.

The couple, and Te Rure's 19-year-old daughter, Joanna Marina Te Rure, were among nine people imprisoned for their part in the enterprise.

The nine were arrested at the conclusion of Operation Attic on July 28 last year after weeks of police surveillance, including bugging of the Housing New Zealand rental property.

There police found the lounge and kitchen had been converted into a P lab.

Justice Alan MacKenzie, in sentencing the group, said six of the couple's 11 children had been exposed to dangerous chemicals while living at the property.

"This was a substantial operation," he told Te Rure, who had already been imprisoned on drug charges.

"It took place in your own home and you got your own children involved in the offending by giving them tasks to buy products."

Defence lawyer Bill Calver said Wilson believed Joanna Te Rure, who received a two-year prison sentence, had only "acted out of obligation to her parents".

She had lived all her life with them in Tamatea, leaving Napier only when the family travelled to Auckland to be near a sibling who was being treated for cancer.

"Her choices were a lot narrower than we would like to admit," Mr Calver said.

Much of the equipment and chemicals were stored at the home of co-defendant Craig Paul Bryan, 33, because he "was not known to the police and did not have a criminal record".

Bryan's lawyer, Steve Manning, said his client, who was jailed for five years and nine months, was relieved he had been caught.

He had said: "I thank God the police caught me and got me off it."

Justice MacKenzie said P was a "wicked" substance and affected not only on those who became addicted to it but the community.

Family and friends in the packed court room wiped tears from their eyes as all nine received sentences of imprisonment one to 12 years.

* Richard John Samuel Te Rure, 38, guilty of manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of a precursor to manufacturing and selling cannabis. Sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment, a minimum non-parole period of eight years.

* Donna Marise Wilson, 41, guilty of manufacturing methamphetamine and selling cannabis. Sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, a minimum non-parole period of six years.

* Craig Gregory Otter, 39, guilty of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Sentenced to seven years' imprisonment, a minimum non-parole period of four years.

* Jason Thomas Scully, 31, guilty of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, two charges of possessing a precursor to manufacturing methamphetamine. Sentenced to nine years' imprisonment, a minimum non-parole period of five years.

* Craig Paul Bryan, 33, guilty of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Sentenced to five years, nine months' imprisonment.

* Gregory Oscar Olsen, 37, guilty of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Sentenced to five years, six months' imprisonment.

* Joanna Marina Te Rure, 19, guilty of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

* Regina Waiata Smith, 28, guilty of supplying a precursor substance to methamphetamine. Sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

* Paul Anthony Smith, 34, guilty of supplying a substance for the manufacture of methamphetamine. Sentenced to one year's imprisonment.

- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY