August 31, 2012

Drug addict apologises for house raids

By David Clarkson

Toby John Richards? opiate addiction has cost his victims and their insurance companies $46,800.

The judge who jailed him for three years in Christchurch District Court believed that any prospect of the money being repaid by the 29-year-old was unrealistic.

Richards said he wanted to pay some back when he was released from the inevitable jail sentence.

Judge John Macdonald told him: ?If you leave prison and you still want to try to pay that back, it is entirely over to you.?

The householders he raided in a fit of drug desperation in May and June are in Christchurch, Ashburton, Dunedin, and Oamaru.

Police prosecutor Stephen Burdes said Richards had told the police where he had sold the stolen items, including jewellery, at pawn shops, and $8800 worth of goods had been recovered.

But that left $38,000 worth outstanding. Insurance would pay out for most of it but the householders were still $12,174 out of pocket from uninsured losses.

Richards admitted 13 burglaries and four thefts. He has 10 burglaries on his record and has been jailed twice for his earlier offending, including raiding Christchurch properties in October and November 2010, after the first earthquake.

When he pleaded guilty to those offences, the court was told he had left school at age nine, left home at 12, and was using drugs by 14. He did not want more jail time because he regarded prison as ?a zoo? with little control, regular hidings, and stand-over tactics.

The householders this time, some of whom lost items with sentimental value, wrote reports wanting Richards to get ?what he deserves?. They were angry and upset.

Richards wanted a prison term of at least two years so he could transfer to Hawkes Bay Prison and do an intensive drug programme while in segregation there. He wanted to then attend a residential rehabilitation programme after his release.

Defence counsel Steve Hembrow said Richards had taken full responsibility for all the offending. He had been doing well, but had reverted to drug taking after the death of two friends in Dunedin. This had led to the breakdown of his relationship, and the loss of his job through repeated lateness.

He described Richards as ?a respectful and pleasant person? once he was off the streets and off the drugs.

?He knows how much these people (his victims) have been damaged and hurt by his behaviour and he apologises unreservedly.?

Judge Macdonald said the offending had taken place over a short period which must have been a desperate time for Richards, who was a chronic opiate user. He noted that two prison terms had not deterred him from further offending.