Man sentenced for sex with girl

A ‘‘wasted’’ Taranaki man had sex with a teenage girl after a night of drinking alcohol despite knowing her age and that the act was illegal, a court heard.

Cody Muggeridge was 23 when a 15-year-old invited him to her address after spending time together at a party.

The two wound up in bed with one another and engaged in ‘‘full penetrative sexual intercourse’’.

When later interviewed by police, the man admitted the November 2017 offence saying he was aware of the girl’s age and he knew it was wrong.

At an earlier court appearance, Muggeridge pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual connection with a young person, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years.

Yesterday he reappeared for sentencing at New Plymouth District Court where he was sternly warned by the presiding judge to stop talking from the dock, or he risked an adjournment of the hearing.

But Muggeridge continued to raise his hand and address the judge, despite defence lawyer Jo Woodcock also advising he pipe down and members of the gallery telling him to ‘‘shut up’’.

Through the background noise, Woodcock gave her submission in which she described her client’s offending as unlawful but consensual. She argued for a sentence beneath the two-year threshold to make home detention a possible outcome.

Crown prosecutor Georgia Milne sought a sentence start point of about two years and nine months’ jail.

She listed vulnerability of the victim given her age, the disparity in age between the two and the defendant’s previous convictions, which span 2011 to 2017, as aggravating factors.

Judge Gregory Hikaka told Muggeridge ‘‘victims of this sort of offending need to be protected’’ and adopted a sentencing start point of two years and six months’ jail.

However, he acknowledged the defendant was remorseful and there was no grooming of the victim.

The judge gave discounts for an early guilty plea, the defendant’s show of remorse and potential for rehabilitation, resulting in an end sentence of 12 months’ home detention.

Muggeridge was also suspended from driving for a time and issued his first strike warning.

He was not registered as a sex offender.