OHAKUNE DISTRICT COURT

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 576, 7 March 1995, Page 14

OHAKUNE DISTRICT COURT

The following cases were heard by Judge Lynton Laing in the Ohakune District Court on Thursday 23 Februar. Police sergeant Luke Crawford of Taumarunui appeared for the prosecution. "Conflicting evidence Frances Christensen, 39, shed-hand of Raetihi, appeared for a defended hearing on a charge of receiving property stolen from the Christian Literature Crusade's 'Family AffairClothingandBook Store' in Seddon Street, Raetihi, in December last year. The first prosecution witness, store owner Patricia Frances Olds, told the Court that when she was called to the shop following the burglary she found it "absolutely trashed". She said that nearly $2000 worth of clothing and religious plaques had been stolen. In Court last Thursday she positively indentified some of the recovered clothing and religious plaques valued at about $200 as having come from the shop. Constable Stuart Ngatai of Ohakune testified that he took the complaint of the robbery on 7 December and made a list of all the missing property. Following information supplied he executed a search warrant on the home of the defendant on 14 December and while searching the bedroom noticed the defendant was acting in a suspicious manner by trying to conceal a carton of

clothing items under other clothes which she had picked up from the floor. He also found several religious plaques under defendant' s bed. When asked for an explanation Christensen denied all knowledge of any stolen property being there saying she seldom used the bedroom pi;efering to sleep in the lounge watching television after a hard day's work with a shearing gang. The first defence witness was the defendant herself. She said that she had arrived back at the house from work to find the police search already in progress. She noticed that her bedroom was "upside down" and attempted to tidy it up while constable Ngatai continued his search of the room. She said that while picking up some clothing and blankets from the floor in order to fold them she noticed a carton of clothes which she thought was "hot gear" when she saw the contents. The next witness was defendant' s 1 6-year-old daughter Frana Sabrina Christensen who said that when she was at home many people visited the house during the day while her mother was at work. Many of these people also brought things to thejiouse and to her mother' s bedroom which was used when she, Frana, was baby-sitting her nieces and nephews . She confirmed that her mother

seldom used the bedroom. In his summing up Judge Laing said that if defendant and her daughter operated an open-house policy in which all sorts of things were brought into the home by other people why should defendant immediately think to herself that the contents of a certain carton were "hot gear". He found the charge of receiving proved. He convicted defendant and ordered her to pay $400 compensation to the Christian Literature Crusade as well as $150 towards the cost of prosecution. Counsel: Paul Brown. "New leaf" Murray Morris, 22, bushman of Raetihi, appeared for sentence on two charges to which he had pleaded guilty at last month's Court hearing: theft of a Rottweiler dog valued at $200 in Dargarville on 19 December last year and a car conversion in Taupo on 13 November. In mitigation of sentence defendant' s counsel, Mr Gary Johnson, told the Court that his client had "turned over a new leaf' and had moved to this area to get away from his previous gang affiliations and start afresh. Judge Laing said he was prepared to accept counsel' s assurances of Morris' s intentions to start afresh and would therefore impose a suspended sentence.

Morris was given a 6-month prison sentence suspended for 16 months and was told he must avoid committing any imprisonable offences in that time if he wanted to stay out of jail.

He was also ordered to make reparation of $200 to the owner of the dog (which Morris had sold to a third person) within two months and told that he must pay $ 1 50 towards the cost of prosecution. Three charges James Manuel Honana, 30, unemployed of Ohakune, pleaded guilty to three charges involving driving while disqualified in Whakatane and possession of cannabis on 29 December and to a breach of police bail on 25 January. Through his counsel, Mr Gary Johnson, Court heard that defendant had felt it necessary, even though he was a disqualified driver, to drive his pregnant wife to hospital because she had complained of stomach pains. According to the prosecution when Honana was stopped by police, who offered to take his wife to hospital, she had become abusive and drove off without him. When police checked with the hospital an hour later they were told she had not reported in for a medical check on her stomach pains. Judge Laing reminded Honana that he had received prison sentences on three separate occasions as well as a community service programme for driving while disqualified. Honana was remanded on bail to appear for sentence on 23 March and advised that if his story (about his reasons for driving in Whakatane on 29 December) was to be believed he had better produce some proof of his wife's medical emergency and subsequent attendance at hospital. Remanded to Wanganui Steven Charles Pui, 25, unemployed of Raetihi, pleaded guilty to common assault committed on 4 January.

Court heard that Pui had hit his sister after a night of drinking with some companions. When assessing his ability to pay a fine the Court clerk informed Judge Laing of some $400 in unpaid fines owed by the defendant. Pui was convicted and remanded to the Wanganui District Court on 3 March for a reparation report and sentence. Remanded without plea Leslie James Christensen, 19, unemployed of Raetihi, was remanded without plea when he appeared on two charges: behaving in an offensive manner on 18 February and breaking out of a building on 19 February after having committed a crime therein. He was remanded to 23 March. Counsel: Paul Brown. Suspended sentence Gregory JamesTuruhiaEdmonds, 28, shearing contractor of Raetihi, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting a female, Maxine Cressida Pue, on Christmas Day last year. His counsel, Mr Paul Brown, said that the assault consisted of a slap with the back of the defendant's hand following an altercation after a party and was not deemed to constitute serious violence. Defendant had since expressed sincere regret to the complainant. He was ordered to come up for sentence if called upon for a similar offence within the next 12 months. Collision Stephen Paul Vernon, 22, carpenter of Glenfield, Auckland, was remanded without plea on a careless driving charge following a collision between two vehicles at the intersection of Conway and TURN TO PAGE 15

DISTRICT COURT

FROMPAGE14 Miro Streets in the early hours of 9 October last year. Careless driving causing death Matthew Haines, 20, unemployed of Auckland, pleaded not guilty to a charge of careless driving causing death and excess breath alcohol following an accident on the Raetihi/Ohakune road 2kms from Ohakune on 5 July last year. A passenger, Phillip Francis Lumsden was killed when the accident occurred at 12.30am.

Defendant was remanded for a defended hearing in the Ohakune District Court on 13 April. Counsel: Gary Johnson. Breaking out x 3 Patrick Maia Leander Barton, 18, unemployed of Raetihi, was remanded without plea on three separate charges of 'breaking out' of Raetihi's Ruapehu Hotel office. He is to appear on 23 March to ans wer the charges which are alleged to have occurred on 10 January, 19 January and 9 February.