Bizarre crime and conduct
From the bizarre to the bemusing, it’s been another odd year for criminals, creeps, cretins and the badly behaved. Matt Stewart reports.
Weed and whimsy trigger destructive Dunedin ambulance joyride
In February, Dunedin man Clayton Tamakehu smoked cannabis and had his curiosity piqued in the moments before he nicked an ambulance – which was treating a patient – and then blazed his way over road spikes.
In August, Tamakehu was disqualified from driving and was ordered to pay reparations for the damaged $220,000 Mercedes ambulance, which was left on its rims after the stoned saboteur was road spiked 40 kilometres from the southern city. However, the court heard an ‘‘embarrassed and ashamed’’ Tamakehu had a significant brain injury from a car accident in 2014, and had previously been deemed not fit to plead.
Squirrel monkeys 1, drunk Wellington Zoo burglar 0
In May, drunk and trying to impress a girl with the gift of a pet primate, John Casford went into Wellington Zoo’s squirrel monkey enclosure.
By the time the ill-conceived stunt was over, Casford had a broken leg, a broken tooth and multiple bruises from trying to get away. The incident ended Casford’s seven-month crime spree. In September he was jailed for two years and seven months.
Evidence melts away against Wellington’s alleged icecream bandit
Wellington’s mystery icecream bandit remains at large after police delivered a soft serve – as their evidence against the man accused of stealing 96 icecreams in August from an inner-city Wellington service station fell over.
Police alleged 66-year-old Kenneth Tindale went into the Z Energy service station with a rubbish bag, walked up to the icecream display and loaded up the bag with 41 frujus, 12 jelly tips, 25 choc bars and 18 popsicles. Tindale was charged and pleaded not guilty and after months he finally got his day in court, only for police to play CCTV footage revealing he was not the culprit.
‘‘The police flaked. There will be no cone of shame for Mr Tindale,’’ his lawyer Blake Dawson said.
Show-off shatters celebrated artist’s sculpture on Wellington waterfront
Hunter Macdonald wanted to be the first to climb Wellington’s Len Lye Water Whirler sculpture – but ended up in the drink, and hot water in October. Showboating, the 29-year-old climbed up on to the sculpture to do some gymnastic moves – and kept climbing up the pole until it bent and he was dangling above the water before it snapped, leaving him bloodied and crestfallen.
He has pleaded guilty to intentionally damaging the sculpture and will be sentenced in March.
Ha¯ wera’s blackface A&P parade summons retro-racism
On Friday, November 16, the Ha¯wera Mt View Lions Club took a second prize $300 in the Taranaki town’s A&P Show for a float featuring blackface – a theatrical form of racism popular in the US in the 1830s. Organisers promised to review their vetting procedures while the group was stripped of both the podium spot and the money following a nationwide backlash.
Nelson’s anti-Ma¯ ori Santa stance shows modern racism in rude health
Earlier this month, Robert Herewini appeared as ‘‘Ma¯ori Santa’’ Hana Ko¯ko¯ in Nelson’s Santa parade, sparking criticism about the fictional character not being traditional.
The outrage stirred up some racially charged feelings.
The backlash – and a desire to let Herewini know the comments were not typical of New Zealand – sparked a successful Facebook page, Bring Ma¯ori Santa To Welly!.