Bishell through the years
Career criminal Kevin Ronald Bishell returned to jail yesterday.
It’s a familiar place for the Taranaki man with an extensive criminal history. And what’s become just as commonplace is seeing the now 38-year-old’s portrait appearing in court reports through the years.
■ In 2006, the then 25-year-old farmworker was charged with the burglary of the
House for
Karen, a holiday home for terminally ill patients.
Thousands of dollars worth of electrical equipment was stolen and he was jailed for 13 months. Adam Te Rata Charles Morehu was also charged with the burglary but was acquitted when Bishell refused to testify against him.
■ In June 2008
Bishell was sent back to prison for not paying more than
$10,000 in fines
– most associated with his conviction for the House for Karen burglary.
■ About five years later, in June 2013, Bishell’s name and photo hit the headlines again following a botched burglary of the New Plymouth Golf Club, during which Adam Te Rata Charles Morehu, 33, was shot dead by police. The pair had made their way by motorcycle to the golf club, smashing through a number of doors to gain access to various parts of the club. A silent alarm was activated when they entered the Pro Shop and a police dog handler arrived and apprehended Bishell as the pair tried to flee on the motorcycle. Armed police arrived at the scene and Morehu was fatally shot.
■ In December 2014, Bishell, then 34, was sentenced in
High Court to four years and eight months’ jail for a string of burglaries involving
Morehu, including the golf club. His other charges relate to the pair’s burglary of the Treehouse Bar and Restaurant on Christmas Day in
2012 and Chipmunks Playland & Cafe in May 2013.
■ Four years on, Bishell was arrested and charged with causing the death of Taranaki teenager Olivia Renee Keightley-Trigg when he attempted to pass a car on Big Jim’s Hill about
6am on August 28, 2018, but failed and crashed head-on into the
18-year-old’s car. In relation to the crash, he was sentenced on November 12, 2019 to two years and six months’ jail for dangerous driving causing death and refusing a request for a blood sample.