Frustration build-up

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 643, 2 July 1996, Page 7

Frustration build-up

Huatahi Albert, 39, garden hand of Ohakune, pleaded guilty to a charge of wilful damage by kicking in a glass door belonging to his landlord on 14 June. He told the Court that he had come to Ohakune to find work and, while he had had no difficulty in getting a job, it had been very difficult to find suitable accommodation for his wife and child. They had ended up sleeping in their vehicle under a bridge after being evicted from a house two weeks before the nine-week tenancy agreement had expired because the house had been sold. The defendant, representing himself, said that he had experienced a build-up of frustration over the accommodation situation in Ohakune and admitted he had taken out his frustration on his landlord by not paying rent for two weeks. The landlord had taken the matter to the rents tribunal saying that defendant had assaulted him. This had made him even more angry and he had,gone to his landlord' s residence and kicked the glass out of the door. Judge Toomey told defendant that he was not entitled to take out his frustration' s on other people' s property. He was convicted and fihed $100, court costs $95, and ordered to pay reparation of $125 at $20 per week. He was also ordered to make arrangements to pay off existing fines.