A serial fraudster was warned on Monday by Judge Bernadette Farnan prison will be the inevitable outcome if he continues to offend.
Karl John Abbott (56), now of Alexandra, was sentenced in the Queenstown District Court to a combination of community detention, community work and supervision, having admitted a charge of causing loss by deception following a trial in August.
The offending related to an incident on September 23, 2014, when Abbott charged Vincent de Lorenzo $1396 for work that was not carried out on Mr de Lorenzo’s Land Rover Defender.
He had initially been charged with obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception by using a Spanner Worx Automotive invoice but that was amended on the second day of the trial because the invoice was not prepared by Abbott, but by his partner.
Defence counsel Liam Collins said Abbott had since paid reparation to the victim and supported a sentence of community work, which would enable him to ‘‘give back to the community’’.
For the prosecution, Sergeant Ian Collin said that was "unsatisfactory".
"This was a matter that was robustly defended ... I don’t think the defendant should be given any credit [for his guilty plea].
"This was whilst [he was] on bail but I accept it was prior to a previous sentencing."
Sgt Collin said Abbott only paid reparation five weeks ago, which was "little comfort" to the victim, given the offending occurred two years ago.
"It is most unsatisfactory."
Judge Farnan told Abbott it was "clear" to her during the two-day trial he was guilty — at issue was whether he had been charged with the correct offence.
While he had admitted the amended charge at a "relatively early time", Mr de Lorenzo had been out of pocket for two years.
"I accept that since the August hearing you have made the reparation payment ... but the victim has had to wait a significant period for time to resolve that."
A pre-sentence report had assessed Abbott as being of low risk of harm to others but at "moderate" risk of reoffending, based on the recidivist nature of his offending to date.
The report said Abbott had a "sense of entitlement", which concerned Judge Farnan.
She determined a combination sentence, to include supervision, would hopefully enable him to overcome that.
He was sentenced to six months’ supervision, with special conditions; 150 hours’ community work, which could be converted to training; and two months’ community detention with a daily curfew between 8pm and 6am.
He was also ordered to pay a total of $1195.97 in witness expenses yesterday and a further $1000 emotional harm payment to Mr de Lorenzo within 28 days.
"Quite frankly, if you’re back before the court for any offending whatsoever ... almost inevitably the outcome will be a full-time custodial sentence," Judge Farnan said.
