Rotorua woman terrified by mob threat

A  Rotorua woman has been sentenced to two years and nine months' jail for her part in an aggravated burglary in during which she threatened a woman that Mongrel Mob members would come to her house.

Joanne Thelma Barron faced a raft of charges including aggravated burglary, theft and benefit fraud and was sentenced  in  the Rotorua District Court.

Judge James Weir said that in June last year Barron, her son and his partner had gone to a house in Rotorua where an associate of Barron's son was living with his mother.

"You went in one car and your son went in another,'' he said.

"Your son took a plastic pipe with him which he had in his hand when he knocked on the door of the address.''

Judge Weir said Barron's son asked the woman who answered the door where her son was.

"You then pushed your way into the house. You accused the victim of going to your house and taking property. You threatened her and said Mongrel Mob members would come to her house,'' he said.

"There was a brief struggle and you ended up pushing her and striking her in the mouth.''

The victim fell through a wooden paling on the deck and landed in the garden.

Various items were then taken from the victim's son's bedroom. The woman suffered bruising and a cut lip.

In a victim impact statement the woman told of how frightened she was during the attack.

"She had been a victim of domestic violence in the past and the trauma which you put her through had made her wet herself. She has since moved house and has described herself as being unsettled and unstable,'' Judge

Weir said.

Barron's fraud charge related to her fraudulently using a cheque in July 2009.

The cheque, which was worth $11,986, ended up in Barron's possession and she deposited it into her bank account.

"You say that all you got was $986 and that a male associate got the $11,000, however, you never assisted police in identifying that associate.''

The theft charges which Barron was sentenced on related to her and her partner finding a bach which was advertised on TradeMe.

"You got the keys and accessed the bach and then decided that you weren't going to bother staying and took a silver iPod, red digital camera, a briefcase, a quilt, a suitcase and several other items,'' he said.

"You helped yourself to the contents of the bach which had an overall value of about $1800.''

Judge Weir said that between June 2005 and April 2006 Barron was overpaid in her benefits and received more than $4000 more than what she was entitled to.

"Finally, in August when you were on electronic bail, you effectively decamped and got rid of the monitoring bracelet,'' he said.

Barron was not able to make reparation.

Judge Weir said Barron had a history of offending and  had been in court several times since 1994.

She had accumulated six charges for theft and 21 for fraud, had served two jail terms and was given a final warning last year but continued to offend, he said.

He sentenced Barron to concurrent sentences _ a total of 45 months _ reducing the term to two years and nine months because she had pleaded guilty to the charges.