Force of attraction leads to jail term
The force of teenage attraction led Leo Kent Riley-Archbold to breach his home detention sentence – almost from the moment it began.
He was warned at his sentencing in June that he was not to contact the teenage girl he had been in a relationship with, because she had been the victim of his violence.
If he did, he would be writing his own sentence, and it would be jail, Judge David Saunders told him on June 3.
On June 11, the girl was found at his home detention address, and 18-year-old Riley-Archbold was arrested for breaching the sentence.
Since then, he has admitted to his probation officer that she had been there right from the day he was sentenced.
Christchurch District Court Judge Alistair Garland read him out what Judge Saunders had told him two months ago, and reminded him of the warning. Judge Garland then jailed him for eight months.
Defence counsel Rupert Ward said Riley-Archbold had been in “a very powerful relationship” with the girl at the time he was sentenced for two charges of assaulting a woman, assault with intent to injure, and assaulting the police.
He said he had seen himself that the girl had been determined to be with Riley-Archbold and had been “persistent in the extreme”.
“There was no way of stopping her,” he told Judge Garland.
However, the teenage relationship was now over and she was now going out with a considerably older person. “It seems she’s moved on to fairer fields,” said Mr Ward.
Riley-Archbold has been held in custody for two months since his arrest for breaching the home detention sentence, and he has not enjoyed prison at all. He asked for another chance to do home detention.
Mr Ward explained: “His mother is willing to have him back. They are a family with some problems, but they are a close and committed family. They seem to be there for each through thick and thin.”
But Judge Garland told the teenager: “With non-compliance occurring so soon after the sentencing, a clear picture has emerged of your unwillingness to comply with any community-based sentence imposed on you.”
Despite a strong warning, Riley-Archbold had admitted the victim of his offending had essentially been with him right from the day he was sentenced.
There had been breaches of bail during his earlier remands. Judge Garland said: “You got the message that you would come to court, get told off, and go home again. That will no longer be the situation.”
He jailed Riley-Archbold for eight months, with six months of post-release conditions to follow the sentence.
The teenager smiled at family members in the public seating and said, “See you later,” as he was led to the cells.
Category: Focus
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