Offender's financial strife results in poor decisions landing him in court

Whanganui District Court heard Wayne Maunder turned to crime after struggling financially. Photo / Bevan Conley

Wayne Maunder made poor decisions when he turned to crime to relieve financial difficulty, his lawyer told the Whanganui District Court on Tuesday.

Maunder appeared before Judge Ian Carter and pleaded guilty to one charge of burglary.

The court heard between July 12 and August 12, 2021, Maunder and his former partner were living in their car after facing difficulty financially.

The couple went to a rural property on Te Awa Rd, where they found a tandem trailer with an attachable horse float, valued at $5000, which they stole.

When questioned by police Maunder told them he had taken the trailer by himself.

Defence lawyer Stephanie Burlace said the float had been recovered and Maunder had not offended since.

Burlace said the 34-year-old had no previous convictions for dishonesty and it had been a considerable amount of time since he had been in trouble.

At the time Maunder had lost his job, his home and was living out of the vehicle.

But since then he had turned his life around and was now in fulltime employment, Burlace said.

Maunder did not have any alcohol or drug issues and the offending was the result of a drastic change in the couple's financial circumstances, the court heard.

"There were some poor reactions and decisions made at that time when they were in drastic need," Burlace said.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Drew Morrison confirmed the horse float had been returned and no reparation was being sought.

Judge Carter said there were a number of things in Maunder's favour including acknowledging responsibility, his limited history of convictions including no previous for dishonesty.

He noted Maunder's circumstances had changed for the better and accepted the offending was out of character.

Imprisonment was not warranted and Judge Carter sentenced Maunder to 250 hours' community work.

Maunder's co-offender is also facing a burglary charge and is due to appear for a case review hearing in the future.