Alexander Ian McLean, 25, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this morning where he was jailed for 20 months after pleading guilty to making an intimate visual recording, as well as unrelated charges of car theft and the procurement of an attempted arson.
McLean had rejected the assertion he was the “mastermind” behind much of the crime but Crown prosecutor James Collins argued that was certainly the case.
Judge Belinda Sellars KC highlighted the fact the defendant had involved under-18s in some of his offending, which portrayed him as something of an orchestrator.
“A very concerning picture arises out of all this, getting yourself into trouble in all manner of ways,” she said.
In August 2024, while McLean was on parole following a previous jail stint, a teen contacted the defendant and 20-year-old Daniel Brian Comer.
While travelling in McLean’s Mitsubishi, the youth – whose name is automatically suppressed under Youth Court protocols - contacted the victim who had been socialising with friends in central Dunedin.
Around midnight, she agreed to join the trio and they set off towards Middlemarch, while Comer shared MDMA with them all.
McLean eventually stopped in a rural area.
The youth and the victim, who were seated in the back, began kissing.
However, when he made more intrusive sexual advances, she told him to “stop”.
“Nobody cares,” the youth said.
As the violation went on, Comer climbed from the front seat into the back and joined in.
The “distressed” victim again requested they stop, a Crown summary said.
McLean, who remained in the driver’s seat, filmed “portions” of the incident and then continued driving.
They later dropped the victim off at a friend’s house.
Last week, Comer was sentenced to 10 months’ home detention.
The court today heard the offending video had never been recovered and counsel John Westgate said his client had only recorded what he described as kissing, which he believed was consensual.
“He made it very clear he was not aware there was a violation going on,” he said.
In May 2025, while McLean was on electronically monitored bail, he messaged a 16-year-old boy and discussed two vehicles on a Hindon property.
The teen agreed to set fire to them for a fee.
McLean sent him messages about the address, suggested accelerants that could be used and requested photo evidence of the arson.
But when the teen and another man went to the rural home, barking dogs scared them off.
The youth dropped his phone during the “cack-handed” arson attempt, Judge Sellars said.
Just a month later, McLean contacted two Oamaru-based associates, telling them about a farm on which he had previously worked.
Under the defendant’s instructions, they travelled to the property, arriving in the early hours of the morning, and found the keys to a late-model Toyota Hilux.
Court documents described how they drove in convoy to McLean’s bail address and stashed the stolen vehicle in a paddock, out of sight.
Hours later, though, they noticed the ute was fitted with a GPS tracker and one of the men drove it away.
Crown prosecutor James Collins said during an interview with Probation, McLean had sought to minimise his role in the incidents, and consistently argued he had been unfairly treated.
“The tone, which I would say is present throughout, does show a lack of acknowledgement and insight into who are the true victims,” he said.
Mr Westgate said, while it was of McLean’s own making, he had been in a high-security unit at the Otago Corrections Facility while on remand, which involved being locked down for 23 hours a day.
“He’s already paid a price,” he said.
Mr Westgate stressed his client’s age and Judge Sellars said she was hopeful McLean – who had earlier been sentenced on other poaching and firearms charges - could be rehabilitated.
