Deportee wielded machete during Timaru kidnapping
A New Zealander jailed in Australia for robbery and deported in 2018 is back in prison after committing a similar offence in Timaru.
Tanera Malachi Otene, 21, of Oamaru, was jailed for 37 months and issued his first strike under the three-strikes law when he appeared before Judge Joanna Maze in the Timaru District Court.
‘‘I decline to order reparation given the length of time Mr Otene will be in custody,’’ Judge Maze said.
The defendant had admitted stealing a vehicle, theft, and three counts of kidnapping. Crown prosecutor Andrew McRae withdrew charges of careless driving, assault with a weapon, aggravated assault, and two counts of aggravated robbery.
Otene, deported after serving a three-year prison sentence for robbery, committed a crime the same month he returned to New Zealand.
He stole a vehicle from the upper Octagon in Dunedin, about 3am on August 26, 2018, by smashing the driver’s window and getting in, causing the 20-year-old man sleeping in the back seat to flee, McRae said, in a summary of facts presented to the court.
The offence which earned Otene his first strike occurred about 8.15pm on January 7, 2019, when he brandished a machete and demanded money and valuables from the two occupants of a car parked at the Countdown supermarket on Church St, Timaru. After jumping into the car, Otene took an electronic cigarette and $10 from the men, and ordered them to hand over their cellphones after resetting them.
A third man returned to the car with shopping bags but backed away when he spotted Otene, who got out of the car and forced the man into the back seat. Otene demanded a victim, who was ‘‘panicking and unable to think clearly to perform a factory reset on his phone’’, to drive them to a free wi-fi hotspot so he could carry out the reset.
‘‘As they drove onto the forecourt [of the Z petrol station on Theodosia St] the defendant panicked when he saw a marked police car drive by. He told [a victim] to keep driving and said, ‘If the cops try and pull you over you’d better just keep driving’.’’
They found a spot to log into the CBD’s free wi-fi and, after the phones had been reset and surrendered to Otene, the defendant ordered a victim to drive them to Le Cren St.
McRae said that when they arrived, Otene took clothing and a driver’s licence from the victims before getting into the car of an unknown associate and leaving.
‘‘[One victim] was left with cuts and swelling to his lip. All three victims were left shaken by the defendant’s actions.’’
Less than a month later, about 6.40pm on January 20, Otene stole packs of tobacco, filters, and cigarette papers valued at $172.60 from Meadowbank Dairy on Thames Highway (State Highway 1), Oamaru.