Home detention sentence imposed for lying to the police
A woman has been granted home detention “for merciful reasons” for her second conviction for perverting the course of justice.
Thirty-year-old Tui Kim Simeon will serve her seven-month home detention term at an address in Papanui where she will look after her three-month old baby who is in fragile health, and her 13-year-old daughter who has returned to her care.
She has also lost her partner, Jayson Nopera Rule, who has died. Rule, 31, was prosecuted last year for an assault on a woman and when he was arrested he escaped by kicking his way out of a holding cell at the temporary court complex at Nga Hau e Wha Marae in Aranui.
He was caught five weeks later hiding underneath the ceiling insulation at a house in Waltham and was jailed for a year.
Simeon has 19 previous convictions for dishonesty, and two for giving false details to the police. She has a conviction of obstructing or perverting the course of justice in 2005, and was jailed for an aggravated robbery conviction in 2007.
Her latest offence arose from an incident on November 11, 2011, when a car approaching a police alcohol checkpoint on Pages Road pulled into a driveway and the male driver ran off.
Simeon was a passenger but said she was the driver and even signed a police notebook entry recording that.
She later wanted to retract the story, and in 2012 provided a statement to the police through her lawyer . The driver – her cousin – gave evidence at the hearing where she pleaded not guilty to charges of drink-driving and disqualified driving and she was acquitted, but by then it was too late to prosecute the real offender for drink-driving.
Defence counsel Lee Lee Heah said today it had been a spur of the moment decision. “She did not want to nark on her cousin. She had narked on other people in the past and had been assaulted.”
She urged that Simeon be allowed home detention for the sake of the children. She had taken steps to reduce her offending including stopping her use of alcohol. She was very remorseful.
Christchurch District Court Judge Alistair Garland said it was unusual for people to have two convictions for perverting the course of justice on their record.
“It strikes at the very core of the administration of justice,” the judge told Miss Heah. “The second time, prison would almost be inevitable. You are asking me to step back for the sake of the children.
“I detect she is trying to use her children as a shield here. I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
He said that as a result of her deception, the driver had escaped being charged because it was too late for the charge to be laid.
“Your dishonesty has perverted the course of justice and you have wasted a considerable amount of time and resources on the part of the police, at considerable cost to the community.”
He said he would grant home detention for merciful reasons, rather than jail Simeon.
She will have to undertake programmes as directed by her probation officer during her home detention sentence and for six months afterwards.
Category: Focus
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