After fleeing a war-torn Afghanistan with his mother and siblings, a 19-year-old ended up in Hamilton where he got swept up in ram-raid crime that has swept through the Waikato.
Romal Muhammad Shafiq and his family arrived in New Zealand in 2018, about the same time his father died.
While initially settled, Shafiq later joined other Hamilton youth, described by Judge Tini Clark as those “struggling” in life or who were on “the margins of our society”, and got involved in ram raids and theft of cars.
Overnight during Anzac weekend last year, Shafiq and other associates caused tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to two businesses and also stole several vehicles to use in the ram raids.
Cheep Liquor in Ngaruawahia was their first target. They arrived about 4.05am in a stolen Toyota, armed with various tools and wearing masks, and tried unsuccessfully to smash their way inside.
They soon gave up and, after stealing more cars, including a Subaru Forester, they headed to Vice Vape Co on Hamilton’s Victoria St.
The Subaru was driven through the front doors, including the security gates, and Shafiq and his associates fled with a “large amount” of vapes and vape products.
Judge Clark said the manager of Cheep Liquor was scared the burglars would come back, while Vice Vape owner Kevin Carroll was left having to pay a $25,000 insurance excess.
In his statement, Carroll said it wasn’t just the damage to the store but the inconvenience of getting everything fixed, and at that stage it was the third time the store had been hit in as many months.
Then, while on electronically monitored bail in January, Shafiq got into a fight with his Rototuna neighbour after initially “posturing aggressively” and challenging him, then smashing an axe through his car.
While shaking his neighbour’s hand in a false act of truce, he punched him in the head five times.
Shafiq appeared in the Hamilton District Court today for sentencing on charges of burglary and unlawfully taking and using motor vehicles.
Shafiq’s counsel Rob Quin urged Judge Clark not to send him to prison; he’d already spent about five weeks on remand in Spring Hill prison after having his electronically monitored (EM) bail revoked.
“He hasn’t enjoyed his time there and is desperate not to go back,” Quin said.
He also wasn’t in a position to pay any reparation but was now keen to turn his life around and get a job.
Judge Clark was not only troubled by Shafiq’s offending but also comments to his mother and Quin that he “gets bored” being stuck at home - especially when she was being asked to give him an EM sentence.
His mother, who was in court to support her son, didn’t like confrontation so when issues arose, she often stayed elsewhere, the judge said.
“She has very little control over her son,” she said, concerned at what would happen if Shafiq was given an EM sentence and he got “bored” again.
“It’s not a criticism of her, she tries to encourage her boy to be good ... she doesn’t like confrontation so she was often leaving the address rather than dealing with this young man who wasn’t listening.”
She also noted the effort his mother went to in bringing the family to New Zealand to escape the violence of Afghanistan.
“And what an awesome opportunity this was for you,” she told Shafiq, “[but] it seems to have been an opportunity squandered.
“But I do have to acknowledge you were not someone who had the benefit of education in Afghanistan.
“Your personal experiences are far from anything we can imagine being brought up in New Zealand.”
Shafiq experienced violence and trauma and now had mental health difficulties, likely including post-traumatic stress disorder.
Given his history, Judge Clark could understand how he drifted towards other Kiwi youths who were struggling, she said.
“I do acknowledge Mr Shafiq that you need support and help to deal with your issues that you clearly have and to move past this way of your life whereby you have been dealing with them by going out with mates and causing a huge amount of harm in our community. "
She accepted Shafiq knew he’d done wrong and felt pressured to join the offending.
She took a starting point of 40 months’ prison before issuing 60 per cent worth of discounts and landing at 12 months’ jail.
However, given Shafiq’s age and it being his first time in the district court, she converted the sentence to six months’ home detention - but gave him a final warning.
“I will give you this opportunity but there will be zero tolerance.
“It’s not my problem if you get bored and it’s no one else’s problem, you’re going to have to keep yourself occupied.”
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and been a journalist for 20.