A Wānaka woman who went on a five-month tagging spree has avoided a conviction and cannot be named.
With her signature tags of "bundibundi", "buudi", "buds", "bestie" or similar, the 24-year-old’s targets included water tanks, light poles, signs, air conditioning units and rubbish skips in the Wānaka, Albert Town and Luggate areas.
Among the owners of the structures she vandalised were the Queenstown Lakes District Council, Aurora Energy, Four Square Albert Town and AllWaste Queenstown.
Counsel Louise Denton said police had accepted the defendant for diversion, but she could not complete one of the conditions, which was to pay the victims a total of $6392.39 reparation upfront.
The defendant applied for a discharge without conviction and permanent name suppression, with the grounds for both including her "complex mental health diagnosis", previous clean record, relative youth and the potential consequences of a conviction on her work and travel opportunities, Ms Denton said.
Judge Russell Walker granted both applications, ordering the defendant to pay reparation at $50 a week.
He warned her of the consequences of appearing in court again, saying she would not get a second opportunity for a discharge without conviction.
