Behaviour improves for melodramatic offender
A man whose bizarre behaviour in court meant he was remanded in custody, was much better behaved at his sentencing yesterday with only a few outbursts.
Simon Richard Hughes, 29, was sentenced in the Christchurch District Court on charges of demanding with menaces, theft of a salad meal, and two charges of disorderly behaviour.
Defence counsel Paul Norcross said Hughes did not have a lengthy history of offending, and wanted to apologise to the woman whose car he tried to take.
He said Hughes did not enjoy prison, and did not want to go back, but did not have an address for a home detention sentence.
Judge Raoul Neave said Hughes had substance abuse issues which, when mixed with his prescribed medication, made him melodramatic and behave bizarrely.
He said Hughes enjoyed the drama, but when he jumped in front of a woman’s car in the early hours of the morning and demanded she get out of it, she would have been terrified.
His behaviour was designed to shock and offend, and included taking off his clothing in public, he said.
Judge Neave said having no community support in place would be a recipe for disaster, and Hughes needed to be aware that the consequences of re-offending would be increasingly severe, and it was time he grew up.
Hughes was miming playing the drums in the dock, but was mainly quiet through the session, where he was sentenced to six months’ prison.
At an earlier appearance in court when he pleaded guilty, Hughes spoke in a fake American accent, sang The Star Spangled Banner, made pistol gestures, talked or sobbed to himself, and draped himself over the front of the dock.
Category: News
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