IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND REGISTRY

CRI-2013-092-9711 [2015] NZHC 445

THE QUEEN

v

SHILOH TAITIMU

Hearing:	12 March 2015	

Appearances:	
H J Musgrave for Crown
N Wintour for Defendant	

Sentence:	
12 March 2015	

SENTENCING REMARKS OF LANG J

R v SHILOH TAITIMU [2015] NZHC 445 [12 March 2015]

[1]       Ms Taitimu, you appear for sentence having pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery. The maximum sentence for that charge is one of ten years imprisonment.

Background

[2]       Your  offending  arises  out  of  an  operation  carried  out  by  the  Counties Manukau Police in July and August 2013.   This involved the interception of a number of telephone conversations and the analysis of text message data sent by you and other people who were the subject of the investigation.

[3]       The charge was laid as a result of an incident that occurred on 8 August 2013. On that day, you contacted the complainant and arranged for him to provide you with a lift in his vehicle.   He duly picked you up, and you agreed to smoke methamphetamine  together.   At  about  11.25  am  you  sent  a text  message to  an associate telling him that the complainant’s wallet was packed with $50 notes.  You asked whether he would come and take the money off the complainant.  You said that you would take the complainant to a location where your associate could do that.

[4]       You  and  the  complainant  then  drove  to  an  address  in  Howick.   At  that address, your male associate set upon the complainant and struck him in the nose. He then  took  the  complainant’s  wallet.   The police became involved  when  the complainant ran out of the address and was observed by a police patrol vehicle passing by.

[5]       The police went into the address and found you and your associate present. They recovered the wallet, which was ultimately found to have just $10 in it.  You told the police that you were responsible for what happened, but said you did not realise that it would go as far as it did.

[6]       You were originally charged with a more serious offence.  It was only after the charge was reduced to one of robbery that you entered your guilty plea.

Starting point

[7]       The Crown submits that an appropriate starting point is between 12 and 18 months imprisonment.  Your counsel does not take issue with that.  I consider that the Crown has correctly identified the range within which the starting point lies.

[8]       Your culpability lies in the fact that you arranged for this event to happen, and you took the complainant to the address where he was assaulted and robbed.  I accept that you were not the person who carried out the robbery, but the stark fact remains that the robbery would not have occurred but for the fact that you arranged it.  You are therefore fully culpable in relation to the offence, notwithstanding the fact that you did not actually carry out the robbery.

[9]       I propose to elect a starting point of 15 months imprisonment to reflect your culpability.

Aggravating factors

[10]     You have a number of previous convictions.  Many of these are for failing to comply with prohibitions on driving when you were an unlicensed driver.  You also have a history of offences involving dishonesty, as well as convictions for failing to answer District Court bail and breaching sentences of community work and intensive supervision.

[11]     This demonstrates that you are a person who does not readily abide by Court orders.   The types of offending for which you have been convicted in the past, however, are markedly different to those for which you appear for sentence today. For that reason, I do not add any uplift to the starting point to reflect your previous convictions.

Mitigating factors

[12]     It is now necessary to ascertain the extent to which I should reduce the starting point to reflect mitigating factors personal to you.

[13]     Your counsel submits that factors other than your guilty plea would justify a discount of around 15 per cent.  Unfortunately, however, I have been unable to detect any other mitigating factors than your guilty plea.

[14]     The pre-sentence report makes it clear that you have a serious problem with methamphetamine.  You frankly acknowledged this to the officer who prepared the pre-sentence report.  It is obvious that until you get that issue under control you are at high risk of reoffending again in the future.

[15]     I take the view that the only discount I can give you is that which needs to be applied in respect of your guilty plea.  The Crown accepts that you should receive a full discount of 25 per cent, given the fact that you have pleaded guilty to a lesser charge than was originally laid.   I therefore propose to apply a discount of four months to reflect that factor.

Sentence

[16]     On the charge to which you pleaded guilty, you are sentenced to 11 months imprisonment.

Lang J

Solicitors:
Crown Solicitor, Auckland
Counsel:
N Wintour