Family tells of failing young offender
File image. © Andrew Bardwell
The family of a youth jailed in the Christchurch District Court for kidnapping and aggravated robbery told Judge David Saunders that they had failed him.
Shem Brokenshire’s father said he was a recovering addict who had been violent to his wife in front of him, and his mother said she was never there for him when her drug addiction took over her life.
Defence counsel Colin Eason said 20-year-old Brokenshire had been in 47 placement homes over 10 years, which meant numerous schools and no pattern of stability.
He said the offending was tragic and regrettable, and Brokenshire accepted full responsibility for it.
The nine months he had spent in jail, he said, had probably been the most healthy of his life. He had been involved in training courses, school courses, and gained his driver’s licence.
Brokenshire was grateful for the increased contact with his family, and could think positively about his future, he said.
Judge Saunders read Brokenshire the first of the three strike warning for repeat violent offenders, for his charges of kidnapping and aggravated robbery.
He told his family in court that their support would be important when Brokenshire was integrated back into the community.
He said in early January Brokenshire and an associate, Jayden Daniel Hopkinson, went to a 55-year-old man’s home and threatened him. They all got into his car, and Brokenshire drove him to two cash machines, before he was able to run off from a petrol station.
Brokenshire then drove the car south and crashed it near Temuka.
He was also being sentenced for stealing a bottle of alcohol from Papanui Super Liquor and intentionally damaging the shop’s door in January, stealing three T-shirts from Duty Free Souvenirs last October, and breaches of supervision and community work.
Judge Saunders said Brokenshire had previously been sentenced on charges of arson and intentional damage in New Brighton.
He sentenced Brokenshire to three years four months prison, and disqualified him from driving for six months. He said Brokenshire had a substantial amount of work to do in rehabilitation programmes.
The 15-year-old co-offender, Hopkinson had been sent to the District Court from the Youth Court jurisdiction.
Defence counsel Colin Eason said the youth had found himself responsible for his own upbringing, and long periods away from school left him very badly equipped, and addicted to synthetic substances. The nine months he had spent in custody at the youth justice facility at Te Puna o Wai near Christchurch had been “a good time in his life”.
Staff from the centre were at court and said he had been “a pleasure to work with”.
Judge Saunders sentenced the youth for the kidnapping and aggravated robbery, as well as two thefts, trespass, and intentional damage. He noted the time in custody had weaned Hopkinson off his addiction to synthetic cannabis which robbed people of their motivation, made them lazy, and hindered learning.
Judge Saunders imposed four months of community detention with 18 months of intensive supervision and regular monitoring by the judge. He will have to undergo counselling, treatment, or education as directed. He will not be allowed to possess any alcohol or illegal drugs, or associate with gang members. Name suppression was refused.
Category: News
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