Burglary spree leads to prison

A man who stole more than $12,000 worth of goods during a month-long burglary spree was fuelling a meth addiction, a court has heard.

Keith Anthony Wells, 47, was sentenced in the Nelson District Court on Monday on six charges of burglary, two charges of possessing instruments for burglary, and one charge each of possessing methamphetamine and committing a threatening act.

Wells pleaded guilty to the charges in September. They involved two burglaries of businesses where he had been employed as a cleaner, two of sheds, one of storage units, and another at a residential address.

It was estimated that $12,782 worth of goods was stolen in three of the burglaries.

Defence lawyer Kelly Hennessy said Wells’ offending was fuelled by a meth addiction. The burglary spree occurred at the end of a relationship breakup.

Wells had handed himself into police, made a full admission, and pleaded guilty at an early stage, Hennessey said.

‘‘I see a man needing help and rehabilitation, a man who has struggled with his time in imprisonment so far.’’

A victim impact statement from the woman who was the subject of the threatening behaviour charge said she felt ‘‘insecure, paranoid and afraid to go anywhere’’ and no longer felt she could trust people.

‘‘The verbal abuse that Keith subjected me to affected me greatly. I cannot say or do things that I did before this,’’ she wrote.

‘‘He was trying to change me into a person he wanted me to be, and so often threatening that he was going to kill. This has worn me down to the extent that I wonder one day if he will carry out what he has often threatened.’’

Judge Tony Zohrab said an aggravating feature of the offending was that Wells had burgled the businesses he worked for, which was a breach of trust.

While Wells had a modest history of offending in New Zealand, he had 20 convictions in Australia for dishonesty offences, including 11 convictions for burglary.

A probation report and an alcohol and drug report showed that Wells had a difficult upbringing, and had issues with substance abuse and drug addiction.

Judge Zohrab gave Wells credit for his early guilty plea and his willingness to participate in restorative justice. He was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison on the burglary charges, and six months on the remaining charge,s to be served concurrently.

Wells was also ordered to pay 50 per cent of the reparation, $6391, at a rate of $10 a week. defence lawyer

‘‘I see a man needing help and rehabilitation.’’ Kelly Hennessy,