He then found the power board, disabled the security lights and walked around the back, where he found an Isuzu truck full of tools and with the keys inside.
He drove off in the truck at speed, smashing through a gate and driving for about 5km before stopping.
Harris nabbed the tools from the truck and then set the vehicle, worth $60,000, on fire.
The tools were worth about $50,00 and the total loss incurred by the company was $116,643.
Harris’s counsel, Philip Morgan, KC, told the court his client’s meth habit was the root of his offending.
“He has to steal to avoid the consequences of owing people money and that led him to the position he is in.”
The best way for him to properly rehabilitate was to serve a short jail term and then be put on release conditions by the Parole Board, Morgan submitted.
“This is a man who needs top-quality help and he is very committed to achieving it.
“He and I and his mother say ‘no’ to the notion of home detention because it’s not going to work for him.
“He is genuinely apologetic for what he has done, particularly the cost of what he has done.”
When questioned by Judge Saunders about paying reparation, Morgan said Harris already had $8000 worth of fines and adding to that would “just be setting him up to fail”.
“He won’t be able to pay it any time soon and I really think it’s better to cut the Gordian knot and get him on a better path.”
Judge Saunders said Harris was no stranger to the court, with 17 previous convictions, though none were on charges as serious as the latest.
She acknowledged his upbringing was tainted by physical and psychological abuse.
His parents separated when they were young and while “life was good” for him between the ages of 10 and 20, it deteriorated once he reconnected with his father and delved into drug abuse.
The judge accepted Harris was both remorseful and insightful about what happened. He had also been offered a job once he’d completed his drug treatment.
“So certainly your future is looking a lot more positive than your past has been.
“I accept you had to pay a drug debt but to repay that you specifically targeted the complainant’s premises ... you then took the truck and tools.
“That may have been an opportunistic act but it was planned, it was pre-meditated and intentional.
“Certainly the burglary saw determined conduct on your part to get something to make money from.”
The fact he was high did not diminish his culpability, she said.
She sentenced him to 27 months in jail.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for eight years and has been a journalist for 19.
