One of three people charged with vehicle theft after police discovered a ''chop shop'' at a North Taieri property has been jailed for 18 months.
Kronn Marjell Church-Davis (22) was also ordered to pay $10,690 reparation when sentenced by Judge Dominic Flatley in the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
Judge Flatley said Church-Davis did not have an extensive history but had now offended ''in a spectacular fashion''.
The offending was serious and effectively amounted to a spree.
It involved some degree of premeditation and a commercial element and it caused inconvenience to the victims. The fact summary said that on January 29 this year, police investigating vehicle thefts saw three of six stolen vehicles at a Sinclair Rd property set up as a ''chop shop''.
The three vehicles were a Nissan flat-deck truck, a Nissan Sentra and a Toyota Starlet. The flat-deck truck was beyond repair. The Sentra was cut up beyond repair, and there was minor damage to the Starlet. Two of three other stolen vehicles were recovered beyond repair and another was recovered with minor damage.
Interviewed at the Dunedin Central police station, Church-Davis admitted stealing the six vehicles to dismantle and on-sell for profit.
The fact summary for a charge of unlicensed second-hand dealing said Church-Davis sold a large quantity of scrap metal to a Dunedin scrap metal merchant between December and February.
Items sold included motor vehicle parts and stripped car bodies. Church-Davis also sold aluminium and copper. On at least seven occasions, Church-Davis sold in person. He was present when associates sold scrap metal on at least 10 other occasions. Two of the sales concerned stolen vehicles.
Counsel Alexandra Bligh submitted Church-Davis accepted he would be sent to prison and had applied to undertake rehabilitation while there. Church-Davis had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.
His two co-defendants were still going through the court system. The offending coincided with the breakdown of Church-Davis' relationship and his abuse of K2 and alcohol, Ms Bligh said. He had never been charged with vehicle theft or been in prison. His early guilty pleas and his co-operation with police were indicative of his remorse. He had apologised in writing and a restorative justice conference had been positive.
Church-Davis offered to pay reparation. Although he could not do so at present because he was in prison, he was keen to get back into his previous occupation of fishing, Ms Bligh said. Judge Flatley said mitigating features included the early guilty pleas, that restorative justice had been positive, and Church-Davis' remorse.
At a glance
• Charged jointly with one or both of two co-defendants, Kronn Marjell Church-Davis (22), admitted stealing six vehicles - a $10,000 Nissan Atlas flat deck truck, a Nissan Sentra and a Toyota Starlet (each valued at about $5000), a $4000 Mazda Titan flat deck truck, a Toyota Cressida (valued at about $5000), and a $4000 Nissan Cefiro - in Dunedin and Mosgiel, between January 11 and 27.
• Church-Davis further admitted carrying on business as a second-hand dealer without holding a second-hand dealing licence, at Dunedin between December 10 last year and February 5 this year; jointly with a co-defendant, unlawfully taking a car, and unlawfully interfering with another car, at Timaru on January 28; breaching community work in failing to report to probation on November 29 and failing to notify probation of a new residential address on December 4, at Timaru.
• On the charges of theft and unlawful taking, Church-Davis was convicted and sentenced to 16 months' jail. Concurrent with that was a six-month sentence for unlawful interference. The community work breaches saw two months added to the 16 months, making the total jail term 18 months.
• The unlicensed second-hand dealing charge was dealt with by conviction and discharge.
• He was also ordered to pay $10,690 reparation and his outstanding community work was cancelled.
