Marshel Amies, 20, Akshay Luthra, 22, and Jonty Scott, 21, appeared before Judge Neave for sentencing at the Christchurch District Court this afternoon.
According to the summary of facts, on August 11 last year the victim arranged to meet Amies through Facebook Messenger group chats created to buy and sell cannabis and other illicit drugs.
The victim drove to Morley St in Christchurch where Amies, Luthra, and two unknown men got in the car.
Luthra, a university student, sat behind the driver’s seat and held a knife to the victim’s side in a threatening manner and told him to drive to Scott’s address.
During the drive Luthra struck the victim over the head several times with his hand and threatened to stab and kill him if he tried to escape.
When the group arrived at Scott’s address the victim was ordered into the back seat and told he was being taken to see someone.
The group arrived at Halswell Domain and while waiting in the carpark, the victim was ordered to hand over his phone, vape, cigarettes, and shoes, totalling $1700.
He was then ordered out of the vehicle and approached by a waiting man.
The man, who was unknown to the victim, told him he needed to pay each of the others money he owed, stating, “You better f***** pay up boy, you’re lucky I’m not blowing kneecaps out now”.
He then pulled out what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun before ordering the victim back into the vehicle with Luthra driving back to Scott’s home.
The victim was dropped off, made to walk home and told that if he didn’t pay his debt in 24 hours, the group would return for him.
The trio admitted the events and said they wanted money for drugs given to the victim. Scott also admitted he paid the unknown male $100 to intimidate the victim by presenting a gun and threatening him.
The victim’s vehicle has since been recovered with extensive damage to the windows, mirrors, roof and interior.
The trio were charged with kidnapping, aggravated robbery and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle. Luthra also faced a charge of threatening to kill.
Scott faced further charges of possessing a class C drug for supply when police executed a search warrant at his house in September last year.
In that incident, Scott arrived home carrying an icecream container of cannabis in 17 zip-lock bags to find police waiting for him.
In total, police located 25.12g of cannabis, some digital scales, and $175 in cash.
In explanation, Scott said he sold cannabis to fund his own drug habit.
Three months later, Scott breached his bail conditions by driving with an associate to someone’s address to sell them seven ounces of cannabis for $2500.
However, the pair were robbed of the cannabis from the buyers who ran off in different directions.
Scott called the police later that night but fearing for the safety of his associate and in an attempt to hide that he breached curfew, said he was forced into a car to drive to the address by men with weapons.
This resulted in a charge of making a false statement, which Scott admitted and said he believed he would not get caught.
Scott also faced five charges of driving while forbidden from December 23 to 27.
Amies faced a further charge of common assault when he attacked his flatmate in November last year during an argument, punching him in the head multiple times while the victim tried to defend himself.
Amies only stopped striking when he was able to be restrained and said he was acting out of self-defence, stating the victim hit him first.
Each of the men’s lawyers said they all showed remorse for their actions and were willing to take part in a restorative justice meeting as well as paying emotional damage reparation to the victim and for the damage to the man’s vehicle.
Judge Neave acknowledged the time Scott had already spent in custody and on electronically monitored bail as well as the health challenges he’s faced.
He also took into account the trauma Amies suffered from witnessing his father being killed by a hit-and-run driver in 2019, resulting in poor mental health and alcohol and drug use.
For Luthra, Judge Neave acknowledged his past which included bullying, and his willingness to do better.
The trio all received home detention sentences with Amies getting nine months, Scott getting 10 and Luthra getting 12.
He ordered all of them to pay a share of the victim’s $1066 losses, and emotional harm reparations of $500 each. Scott was to forfeit the $175 drug dealing cash seized by police.
