A group of people were robbed at this Rotokauri home during January 16 and 17, 2021. Image / Google maps
The victims at the centre of a serious robbery during which they were kept in a house for several hours against their will and assaulted, say they have lost their jobs, income, custody of their child and been forced to move towns.
Another victim became "severely introverted and overly vigilant" because of the risk she felt there was to her life during the night of January 16, 2021.
Troy Mudford, 21, and Shannon Jenifer Avery, 39, of Brightwater in Nelson, pleaded guilty to lesser representative charges of robbery and assault with a weapon at the start of their second trial in the High Court at Hamilton in July, after their first trial was aborted halfway through.
Third defendant, Maxine Danielle McWaters, 30, of Matamata, pleaded guilty to one representative charge of robbery.
They appeared before Justice Pheroze Jagose for sentencing in Hamilton today.
They admitted the lesser charges and a charge of kidnapping was withdrawn.
After an "encounter" the previous day, the trio arrived at a Rotokauri house on January 16 last year before the victims, two men and two women, turned up in their car.
They confronted them and Mudford punched one of the men in his jaw, before the trio stole their jewellery, handbags and cellphones, ordering them to reset the devices.
The victims were then ordered to go inside the house, and some testified they were assaulted and forced to strip naked and hug during the ordeal.
They were kept inside the house against their will until dawn.
Mudford struck one victim was struck in the back of the head with a hammer.
At one point, Avery held a knife to a victim's waist in a vehicle as they met her mother to get money.
Mudford's lawyer Charles Bean said the offending wasn't a home invasion, rather just a robbery.
He also noted that defence counsel had tried, unsuccessfully, several times - including at the start of the second trial - to negotiate with the Crown on lesser charges.
Justice Jagose noted the robbery had a profound impact on two of the victims, causing them "severe anxiety and distress". They lost jobs, income, their home and custody of their child and had to move towns.
Another victim had become "severely introverted" caused by the "risk you presented to her life".
Sentencing Mudford, Justice Jagose noted he had eight previous convictions between 2018 and 2020 and that he had only been released from jail a month before the Rotokauri robbery.
A pre-sentence report said Mudford was now "motivated to move on" from his anti-social behaviour, which has led to him being estranged from his Cambridge family.
While on remand in prison he had taken steps towards positive goals, which were at this stage proving successful in reducing the number of alerts to the department.
However, it was noted he did not have any support in the community for when he would be released.
"I note you saying you are working on being a better person and trying to make changes to better your life to avoid putting yourself in situations like that again," the judge said.
Given the seriousness of the robbery, it needed to be treated near the more serious charge of aggravated robbery.
After taking a starting point of four years and six months and applying various discounts for guilty plea, youth and cultural report, he came to an end sentence for Mudford of two years and 11 months.
Justice Jagose noted McWaters' pre-sentence report categorised her as being at a medium to high risk of reoffending and of high risk of harm to the community, given her substance abuse and anti-social links and gambling addiction.
Although giving her discount for her guilty plea and personal factors, he labelled her commitment to rehabilitation as "fleeting" as she had offended while on bail awaiting the trial.
On her single representative charge of robbery, McWaters was sentenced to two years and five months' prison.
A shocked and emotional McWaters yelled "I love you Mum", as she was led by Corrections staff into custody.
Avery's counsel Gerard Walsh said his client's behaviour was "exemplary" while on bail on the charges.
She had also undergone a large amount of rehabilitation since the offending, when her life at that point "was in a real state of mess and drug abuse was overwhelming her".
Justice Jagose took into account her "self-starting" rehabilitative work, guilty plea, remorse and personal factors totalling 40 per cent in discounts.
Avery was jailed for two years and eight months.
Their remaining charges, including aggravated robbery and kidnapping, were dismissed.