No convictions for French visitor
Frenchman Costa Le Coubet has only good things to say about his time in New Zealand – in spite of a night in jail and a prosecution for theft.
He told the Christchurch District Court that the police who arrested him were “very kind and understanding”.
And his defence counsel Claire Hislop said 22-year-old Le Coubet told her: “Despite the hardship, he says he has had nothing but a pleasant experience with the New Zealand public and he wishes to convey that.”
Le Coubet pleaded guilty in June to four theft charges which involved reaching in and stealing about 10 packets of cigarettes from the amnesty bin wheren incoming passengers would leave them at Queenstown International Airport. He had been employed there as a cleaner.
The cigarettes were worth only about $200, but the police had declined the diversion scheme, which allows first offenders on minor charges to escape convictions. They said he had abused a position of trust which allowed him to steal in a secure area of the airport.
Judge Gary MacAskill was asked to consider a discharge without conviction for Le Coubet when he appeared for sentence.
Miss Hislop said that because of his arrest, Le Coubet had been unable to leave New Zealand on a holiday to Thailand and had lost the $1200 in air fares.
The convictions would affect his prospects for further study for his masters degree in tourism in France, and his job prospects, and would inconvenience him for future travel.
She said there had been no financial cost to anyone involved in the theft of the cigarettes because they were going to be destroyed.
Judge MacAskill accepted the difficulties the convictions would pose for Le Coubet were out of proportion to the seriousness of the offending. He said he was not critical of the police, but it would have been open to them to exercise their discretion and grant diversion.
Since his guilty pleas, Le Coubet has had to stay in New Zealand for three months, living off his savings and the generosity of others. Miss Hislop said his passport and visa had been taken from him. He had been able to work a few shifts, and had done other work in return for board. He had also done more than 40 hours of voluntary work for the Salvation Army.
Judge MacAskill granted the discharge without conviction.
Category: News
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