New Brighton ram-raids were done ‘for fun’
A Phillipstown man who went ram-raiding in New Brighton “to have some fun” has been told by a judge that he needs to rise above his bad upbringing.
Christchurch District Court Judge Jane Farish told 22-year-old Hamish Alex McDonald: “A lot of people have really bad upbringings, but they choose not to allow that to affect their lives. They choose to get out of the muck they are in.”
She jailed him for two years one month for unlawfully taking a car on July 29 and using it to commit three ram-raid burglaries on two service stations and a dairy in New Brighton. He pleaded guilty to these charges as well as having tools to take cars – a pair of scissors.
McDonald waved to supporters in the public seating as he was taken away to begin his third prison sentence, and Judge Farish said he seemed to have “a really good mum”.
She had taken him in after his release from his second prison term, and was giving him guidance and advice, but McDonald had ignored her. He was on prison release conditions at the time he committed the ram-raids and that meant an addition to his latest jail term.
The pre-sentence report described McDonald’s “fatalism”, though he said he did not know what that meant. It said his attitude was that because of his bad upbringing, all he could do with his life was to commit burglaries to have some fun and get some money and then go to jail.
“You have a choice,” Judge Farish told him.
Defence counsel Josh Lucas told of McDonald’s bad upbringing. His father had died when he was young and he had been shunted amongst Child, Youth, and Family homes where he had been “mercilessly beaten and bullied by other children”.
The first time he had felt “at home” was when he had lived with his mother for seven weeks up to the time of his arrest, Mr Lucas said. McDonald was easily suggestible and bent to peer pressure. He was a follower rather than a leader.
On the night, he had been having drinks with his brother and associates when they decided to go for a drive in two cars. McDonald had been surprised when the other car committed the first ram-raid but he had then joined in.
He not only had to apologise to the community, but also to his mother who had tried to help him. It was only after she had gone to bed that McDonald and the group had decided to go out and “have some fun”.
The police said various items including the cash tills were taken in the three raids.
Judge Farish urged McDonald to get involved in rehabilitation courses in prison, before he goes before the Parole Board which will decide on his release. She ordered him to pay his $883 share of reparation after his release.
McDonald’s brother, Terrance McDonald, 18, is due for sentencing on October 8, and 18-year-old Danielle Lesly Marie Pearce, who has admitted unlawfully getting into one of the cars, is due for sentence on October 28.
Category: Focus
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