Seven years’ jail for shooting taxi driver
The man who shot a Wellington taxi driver over a $45 fare, forcing him to leave the job he loved, has been jailed for seven years and ordered to pay the fare.
Dylan Nuku had taken the pistol from associate Paris Ohuka’s purse on the drive from Courtenay Place and held it while he directed taxi driver Alem Tesema to an isolated spot on November 18 last year.
After they were unable to pay, Nuku pointed the gun at Tesema who bravely refused to get out of his car.
Nuku shot him.
The bullet went right through his shoulder. The entry and exit wounds bled profusely, and he needed surgery to remove bullet fragments.
Nuku, 27, and Ohuka, 18, then ran off, leaving the wounded Tesema, who drove himself to a service station to get help.
Nuku pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unrelated charges of shoplifting, breach of release conditions, unlawfully getting into a car, unlawfully in a building, and intimidation.
Ahead of the sentencing, Tesema told Radio New Zealand he had asked Housing New Zealand to be relocated, as he no longer felt safe in the city.
‘‘I’m not asking for a clean house, I’m just asking for my own safety, that’s why I apply for the house,’’ he said.
He had been unable to work as a taxi driver or find other employment since the attack, which meant he was unable to send money home to his family in Ethiopia.
‘‘So the people who did all those things, it’s not just me they complicated life, but back home, my family,’’ he told RNZ.
Yesterday, Justice Helen Cull jailed Nuku for seven years but refused to impose a minimum non-parole period.
She commended Nuku for wanting to finish both literacy and drug and alcohol courses while he had been on remand in prison, saying it showed he was taking his responsibilities seriously.
Cull said Tesema had been a taxi driver for almost 15 years and has had to stop, which was causing him and his family financial strain.
She said he had suffered psychologically, losing his confidence and feeling unsafe living in Wellington.
In the weeks leading up to the shooting, Nuku had failed to report to his probation officer and had got into a stolen car and, when it was chased by police, ran off into a private property.
He and others had also gone into a liquor store and taken bottles of alcohol, and Nuku held one over the shop owner’s head and threatened to smash him when confronted.
The judge said he came from a very disadvantaged background and had been born in prison. He had previous convictions for injuring with intent to injure in 2016 and another offence of wounding from 2009.
She said Nuku was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, and had received mental health treatment, although his offending was triggered by heavy alcohol and drug use, including methamphetamine.
‘‘This has caused you to feel paranoid, delusional and act as though other people were going to harm you and sabotage your life. ‘‘
She also ordered him to pay the $45 fare and $138.96 for the stolen alcohol.
His lawyer, Jonathon Miller, said Nuku had written a letter of apology to the victim.
He said Nuku had finished both the literacy course and the drug and alcohol course in jail.
Ohuka is yet to be sentenced, after pleading guilty to unlawfully possessing a firearm.