July 20, 2010

Teen jailed for street robbery with racial slurs

By David Clarkson

A street robbery in which racial slurs were used against the two Korean victims has led to a two-year three-month jail term for an 18-year-old offender.

Dylan Jason Gittings does not accept the jury’s verdict in the Christchurch District Court jury trial and continues to blame his co-offender, who has been appearing in the Youth Court.

But today Judge Michael Radford described the details of the incident in August last year which led to guilty verdicts against Gittings on two charges of aggravated robbery.

Gittings has a stable work record and a supportive family – his parents were in court – but on this night in Dallington he had been drinking.

“The drinking that took place before the robbery is at the heart of the offending,” said Judge Radford. “That doesn’t reflect well on those who were willing to supply an immature young person with alcohol.”

About 9.30pm on August 28, the two teenagers left a party to catch a bus but noticed two Koreans at the bus stop. Witnesses suggested the two robbers paid attention to the victims because they were speaking a foreign language.

They approached them and demanded money. Gittings took a $5 note from one of the victims’ pockets, and took a cellphone, and punched both victims. One of them received several blows.

Judge Radford described it as a prolonged attack, which even involved pursuing the victims a short distance.

The victims described the attack as upsetting and alarming. Crown prosecutor Marcus Zintl said the violence had not stopped, even when members of the public intervened, and racial slurs had been used during the incident.

Defence counsel Serina Bailey urged the judge to reduce the sentence to a two-year level where a home detention sentence could be imposed. This would mean Gittings was not left “festering” at Christchurch Men’s Prison at Paparua. “Who knows how he might come out?”

But Judge Radford said the behaviour had been extremely aggressive. “And I take into account that there was racial hostility, motivated in part by your perceived dislike of these people. There is a need to condemn street violence in every form.”

He also noted that Gittings had been given a 100-hour community work sentence in February for a driving offence but had done only 1.5 hours of it. Mrs Bailey explained that he had broken his thumb, and then put his job responsibilities first, and then had been in custody since his conviction in June.

But Judge Radford said it was an indication of the way Gittings saw his responsibilities. He also noted the youth was assessed as a low to medium risk of re-offending.

He reduced the sentence for the youth’s age, but imposed the two-year three-month jail term for what he called “serious street violence with racial undertones, fuelled by alcohol”, which he said ruled out home detention.