Three young red zone offenders jailed
T
hree young men were called “mindless idiots” by a judge who jailed them all for burgling and vandalising 11 red zone properties in east Christchurch and setting one alight.
The damage bill from their two week spree was $48,000, and they will have to pay just $4000 each as reparations.
EQC, as the effective “owner” of the properties, had a representative at their sentencing by Judge Raoul Neave in the Christchurch District Court. Three were owned by Housing New Zealand.
The trio set fire to a large two storey house in Azure Place, Burwood.
Other properties were in Cerbera Close and Atlantis Street.
They admitted all the charges of burglary and the arson and one admitted additional charges of possession of cannabis for supply and theft. They have all attended a restorative justice meeting with their victims.
Judge Neave jailed Bradley Burlton, 18, a roofer, and Jordan Riley Harrison, 19, a concrete worker, for 27 months.
Andrew Michael Hunton, 21, a roofer, was jailed for 30 months. Defence counsel Andrew McKenzie had asked the judge to consider a home detention sentence for the father of a one-year-old child.
He said Hunton had “lost his work ethic” after four years of full employment as a builder, after he began using synthetic cannabis.
“Idleness and lack of direction were at the heart of the offending,” he said. Hunton had sold real cannabis to support his synthetic cannabis habit.
Tony Greig spoke for Burlton, and handed up a cheque covering most of his reparation payment. He said the significant difference from other burglars was that these three had gone into abandoned houses which were going to be demolished. “They did not realise the harm they were causing. The same cannot be said for people who enter houses to steal.”
For Harrison, Mark Callaghan said the offending arose from “boredom, idleness and synthetic cannabis”. They had burgled houses when they saw homes in the area being demolished “left, right, and centre”. Harrison also paid most of his reparations.
Judge Neave replied: “They had to know this was unacceptable behaviour. Just because you are young and stupid doesn’t mean you don’t know right from wrong.”
He referred to the community seeing red zoned properties “being destroyed by mindless idiots”.
In some ways, burgling a house to commit vandalism was worse than a burglary in which property was taken.
Crown prosecutor Kathy Basire said the trio could not claim they did not realise the harm they were doing to the community. The significance of burglaries and burning of red zone properties had been highly publicised.
Judge Neave said he did not see he had any choice but to send the offenders to prison. “I get no pleasure from any of this,” he told the crowded courtroom.
They had committed the arson “for kicks”, he said. “They went into a house and tried to burn it down for no discernable reason that I can see.”
Category: Focus
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