Persistent teen hustler lands himself in court
An overly persistent teen hustler has ended up in court after frightening a woman he approached outside The Palms shopping centre.
Caleb Waitokia, 17, who is said to be a busker and hustler, pleaded guilty to a charge of threatening behaviour for an incident that left a woman scared and in tears.
Christchurch District Court Judge Alistair Garland ordered him to do 50 hours community work, and urged that a restorative justice conference be held.
Defence counsel Donald Matthews said Waitokia sincerely wanted to make amends.
The incident took place on October 3, at 9.15am, when the teenager was outside the Palms with two associates.
He approached a woman he did not know who was using an outside automatic teller machine.
“You went over and tried to engage her in conversation. She didn’t want to talk to you but you insisted on pestering her. She became quite frightened and distressed, and panicked,” said the judge.
Waitokia then told the woman: “I’m going to get my sister and she’s going to knock you out in no time.”
The woman sought sanctuary in the bank and alerted security staff. The police were called.
When officers spoke to Waitokia he admitted he had been trying to hustle the woman for money.
The judge said the woman had found the incident “very scary” and it had left her crying and shaken.
Waitokia said he had not been trying to scare her, and the judge said it seemed he had taken his persistence in trying to get money too far on this occasion.
Category: Focus
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