Ram-raiding teen will meet his victims
A Phillipstown teenager has agreed to meet the victims of his New Brighton ram-raids in an effort to reduce the jail time he is facing.
Terrance McDonald, 18, started the day keen to get his sentencing over and done with by Judge Jane Farish in the Christchurch District Court.
Restorative Justice Services had advised the court that no restorative justice meeting had been held yet, and defence counsel Trudi Aickin said McDonald wanted to get on with the sentence. “He wants finality.”
He had admitted unlawfully taking two cars, ram-raids on Z Energy in Hawke Street, the Challenge Service Station in Bridge Street, South Brighton, and the Bower Avenue Dairy, dangerous driving, and failing to stop for the police.
His older brother, 22-year-old Hamish Alex McDonald, pleaded guilty to the ram-raid charges and was sentenced two weeks ago by Judge Farish to 25 months in jail. The brothers had gone out together in two cars on the crime spree on July 29.
Miss Aickin said Terrance McDonald did not have as many previous convictions as his brother and his remand in custody had been his first time in prison. She acknowledged he was on a supervision sentence at the time of the offending.
Terrance McDonald said in a pre-sentence interview that once his older brother had been bailed to same address “it was only going to be a matter of time” before something happened.
But Judge Farish urged that the teenager reconsider his position and stood the case down for a “robust discussion” with his lawyer. The judge said his likely sentence was about two years’ jail, but if he could get additional “credit” for a good report from a restorative justice report it could bring the sentence below two years.
There was no suggestion he could get home detention, but a sentence below two years would mean he would be released automatically after serving half his term rather than having to appear before the Parole Board to seek his release.
Later in the day, McDonald opted to go ahead with the restorative justice session where he will meet the victims of his offending.
“I think you have made a positive step,” the judge told him. She also suggested he look at issues with his lifestyle before sentencing, which is now set for December 18.
Category: News
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