One of Dunedin’s most frequent offenders, who a judge says has burned bridges with those trying to help him, is free again.
Andrew Kataina’Marii (44) has a long history of stints behind bars followed by brief periods of freedom before the cycle restarts.
He appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to four charges of wilful damage, one of trespass and an assault.
Judge Josephine Bouchier said she began the laborious process of tallying Kataina’Marii’s previous relevant convictions among his hefty criminal history.
"I gave up because of the significant number," she said.
"His behaviour has been spiralling downwards since the age of 10."
Judge Bouchier jailed Kataina’Marii for nine and a-half months, but he will be released immediately because of the time he spent behind bars on remand.
On June 15 last year, the defendant went to Corrections’ South Dunedin hub in King Edward St — an address he was banned from visiting because of previous unruly behaviour.
After loitering around the locked-up premises for a couple of hours, Kataina’Marii kicked the wheelie bins in the car park and smashed the intercom with his elbow.
He then flung one of the bins at the building, damaging a wall.
The defendant walked down the street, and the destruction continued.
Kataina’Marii pushed over a Kawasaki motorbike, laid into a Toyota car parked near it then crossed the road to cause a large dent in a van.
He was seen by the vehicle’s owner kicking its front causing the number plate to fall off, the court heard.
Kataina’Marii punched the victim when confronted.
He later told police he was "sick of nobody paying him attention".
Judge Bouchier, however, said there had been extensive planning by the authorities every time Kataina’Marii was released from prison.
But the man’s volatile behaviour towards those who had tried to assist him — Corrections, health staff, Ministry of Social Development and housing providers included — had alienated them, she said.
Kataina’Marii, the court heard, had a history of schizophrenia and psychotic episodes but exacerbated his issues by refusing treatment and abusing illicit substances.
As a result he would become "acutely unwell" and reoffend, inevitably landing back in a cell.
Judge Bouchier said all kinds of sentences had been imposed in a bid to turn the defendant’s life around, but nothing had worked.
While victims had been hit hard by Kataina’Marii’s violent outbursts, the judge said she could not impose reparation since there was no chance of it being paid.
