Mall burglar had been deported from Australia
A professional burglar who was deported from Australia after serving jail time there, immediately started burgling shopping malls throughout New Zealand.
James William Cornes, 39, was jailed for four years six months in the Christchurch District Court on 19 representative burglary charges, and one charge of possession of instruments for burglary.
Judge Tom Broadmore said the small traders in shopping malls were frequently financially vulnerable, and the staff would have emotional stress and distress.
Defence counsel Kirsten Gray said Cornes was deported from Australia and left in a disadvantaged position by immigration officers. He was given three nights’ accommodation and then left to his own devices with no family, friends, or support in New Zealand. He had not lived in New Zealand since he was seven.
His previous few years had been spent in custody in Australia for burglaries in that country.
She said Cornes did not take merchandise, but only the money he needed to survive.
He did not have a lavish lifestyle while offending, but was hitchhiking and staying in backpackers up and down the country, or living on the street.
Police have described Cornes as a recidivist, and spree burglar. Over five months he committed19 representative burglaries, with 32 individual shop victims. Some of the offending was committed while he was on bail after being caught and charged with possession of tools for burglary.
He broke into these shopping malls: Richmond Mall, Nelson; City Centre Mall, Dunedin; Centre Place Mall, Hamilton; Logan Plaza in Upper Hutt; Johnsonville Mall, Wellington; Coastlands Mall, Kapiti Coast; Eastridge Mall, Westfield Newmarket and Meadowbank Shopping Plaza in Auckland; Trafalgar Square Mall, Wanganui; Palm Beach Shopping Centre, Tauranga; Remarkables Park, Queenstown; South City Mall, Barrington Mall, The Hub Hornby, Merivale Mall, and Northlands Mall in Christchurch. Some centres were burgled more than once.
Cornes’ method was the same in each case. He would go to a mall and identify the shops in the complex that he wanted to target. These were often ice cream shops and hairdressers because there was less chance of them being alarmed and a high chance there would be cash in the shop.
He would walk around the inside and outside of the complex, and sometimes drew a map of the floorplan.
After hours, in the dark, he would climb on the roof, cut a hole, and fold back the roofing iron.
He would then climb down into the ceiling cavity and move to his target shop before removing the ceiling tiles or kicking holes to gain entry.
He would lower himself into the shop and search for cash in the shop, till, and office areas.
Judge Broadmore said Cornes had constantly been in front of Australian courts for burglaries since 2001, and spent time in prison there.
Cornes was a professional burglar and the public needed protection from him, he said.
Category: Focus
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