Dunedin District Court

IT was difficult for a judge to send an 18yearold to a fulltime custodial sentence. But there was no alternative, Judge Kevin Phillips said jailing a male originally given a rehabilitative sentence on convictions for doing an indecent act on a boy.

Brendon Hemi Raukura (18) was before the Dunedin District Court on convictions for breaching intensive supervision, cancellation of the intensive supervision and resentence on two of the charges for which he received the sentence.

Both charges were from events on March 28 last year. Raukura, then aged 17, was with the 15yearold victim in Tonga Park. Workers nearby erecting goalposts saw him kiss the boy and pull him on top of him while lying on the grass. They moved across to the Caversham football clubrooms where Raukura was seen molesting the victim on the outside of his clothes.

Judge Phillips said Raukura was sentenced short of prison by a very compassionate and experienced judge, on December 7. The judge had taken a rehabilitative approach.

‘‘But from what I read, you went out of your way from the start of the sentence to dictate the terms,’’ Judge Phillips said.

Raukura’s breaches of intensive supervision, both admitted, were in having contact with young people aged under 16 in June this year, and removing his GPS tracker on July 3, the court heard.

Raukura acknowledged he was unable to comply with the conditions of the sentence, the judge noted.

Raukura received an overall sentence of nine months’ jail, with six months standard and special release conditions to follow.