Casey Leigh Smith’s victim, who was in her late 80s, never got to see justice served, dying in January this year — two months before the 41-year-old was sentenced in the Oamaru District Court for theft in a special relationship.
The pensioner’s only source of income was her New Zealand superannuation and she relied on Smith to occasionally buy groceries and other small purchases for her and her great-grandchildren, giving Smith her eftpos card and PIN, a court document states.
But after the victim sold her home, Smith began taking savings from the sale, withdrawing large amounts of cash from ATMs.
She also used the card to pay bills and buy vapes, alcohol, Lotto tickets, food and other items for herself and her family.
Smith initially told police her grandmother had given her permission to take the money.
More than $47,000 was stolen over an 11-month period between November 2023 and October 2024.
So much money was taken her grandmother was left unable to pay her rest-home fees and risked losing her apartment.
Smith’s offending caused a rift within the family and ‘‘devastated’’ the pensioner, who went from being ‘‘relatively’’ financially comfortable after downsizing to having no money, according to a victim impact statement read out in court.
Smith was sentenced on April 22 to eight months’ home detention.
Judge Dominic Dravitzki said the offending was ‘‘significant’’, involving ‘‘substantial financial loss and with significant elements of breach of trust’’, which carried a maximum sentence of seven years’ prison.
The judge said that he was prepared to take into account Smith’s ‘‘preparedness to engage in restorative justice’’ and the effort which had been made towards reparation as ‘‘genuine signs of remorse’’.
The $700 which had been paid since April 22 was described as a ‘‘drop in the ocean’’.
‘‘I take into account that while it has not really moved the needle in terms of repaying a substantial amount of that debt, I do accept it is a genuine effort by you to at least get started.’’
In his sentencing note, the judge said he had to balance the ‘‘reality’’ that Smith was unlikely to ever be in a position to make full reparation for the loss.
A sentence of home detention would be ‘‘very difficult’’ given Smith was the sole carer of her children and due to her health conditions, the judge said.
There was a ‘‘really lengthy delay’’ in sentencing but he accepted that Smith had ‘‘suffered from a number of serious health issues’’.
Smith offered to make payments at a rate of $50 a week, which in her circumstances might ‘‘be very difficult’’, the court was told.
The judge ordered her to pay $20,000, at $40 a week.
charley-kai john@odt.co.nz
