Hamilton man Abdul Javed, 25, was not keen on having his photo taken in the Hamilton District Court today during his sentencing before Judge Arthur Tompkins. Photo / Belinda Feek
Hamilton man Abdul Javed, 25, was not keen on having his photo taken in the Hamilton District Court today during his sentencing before Judge Arthur Tompkins. Photo / Belinda Feek
Hamilton man Abdul Shamil Javed told a pre-sentence writer that he “wasn’t thinking right” and didn’t think his threat to security staff wouldbe taken seriously.
But it was and resulted in police on his doorstep and searching his bedroom on February 26, last year.
After pleading guilty in December, the 25-year-old was back in the Hamilton District Court today before Judge Arthur Tompkins who was tasked with deciding what sort of sentence to hand down.
During Javed’s tirade, he continued to allude to a perceived personal issue and mentioned needing help.
“They think it’s easy. They didn’t realise it’s kids [sic].
“People like that creates people, you know?
“Now I know that Christchurch killer was killing because he had people like s*** people in his life, you know?
“I, I’ve spoke about my kids, my family issue, no one f***ing helps, bro. [sic]
Javed believed “everyone” was “laughing” at his family and threatened that now he was “f***ing gonna blow”.
When questioned by police, Javed denied making the phone call and claimed his phone had been missing for the last few days and he didn’t know where it was.
He earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of “causing a significant disruption to the activities of the civilian population of New Zealand by threatening to kill school children, an act likely to create a risk to the health of children”.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.
‘He was high on meth and alcohol’
Javed’s counsel, Tyler-Rose Keatley, explained how after being arrested her client had spent 192 days in custody, and a further 131 days on electronically monitored bail.
After doing some maths, she urged Judge Tompkins to sentence her client to five months, two weeks' prison which would equate to her client doing a “time-served” sentence.
She explained that would be made up of a multitude of discounts; 25% for plea, 10% for remorse, 15% for addiction to methamphetamine and alcohol.
Hamilton man Abdul Javed, 25. Photo / Belinda Feek
Javed told her that he had been using meth and alcohol the day he made the phone call.
She also opposed an application from NZME to take his photograph due to familial reputational damage and the fact that he had a job interview on Wednesday.
Keatley also urged the judge not to issue any uplifts for previous convictions which included demands with menace and threatening behaviour from 2015.
Judge Tompkins said he didn’t have a drug and alcohol report detailing any addiction issues, and Javed’s pre-sentence report spoke about the reasoning of his offending but again, nothing mentioned being high on meth or alcohol, let alone both.
“That is not reflected is no reference at all in the pre-sentence report.
“It just says he was going through a bad (time), was not thinking right, which led one thing to another. He was pissed about the vehicle being towed which led to him becoming angry.
“There’s no reference at all to any [drug].”
The report went on to state that alcohol and drugs were not contributory factors toward the offending.
Keatley said those were her instructions and added there was more detail in a separate Section 27 report.
Crown solicitor Ashley Penney said Javed had not taken any additional steps to address the cause of offending so asked the judge to not issue any discount for remorse, or for any S27 issues.
Abdul Javed leaves the Hamilton District Court last year after admitting a charge of causing a significant disruption to the activities of the civilian population of New Zealand by threatening to kill school children. Photo / Belinda Feek
She suggested a guilty plea discount of 15%, as he didn’t enter a guilty plea till sometime later, and urged him to issue uplifts for previous convictions.
‘They’re just words'
Judge Tompkins acknowledged that nobody was harmed by Javed’s actions but also noted his “attitude of entitlement” regarding his explanation of having a “bad day”.
Javed was also angry about his vehicle having recently been towed and had minimised his offending by saying his threat was “just words and that they came out of nowhere with no intent of following through”.
Although Judge Tompkins found there was no substantive causative link to justify his discounts, he agreed to lower his initial starting point of 18 months to 14 months' jail.
He agreed to issue 25% for his plea before getting down to 10 months' jail and converting that to five months' community detention, as he had not reoffended since being arrested.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.
