Drug abuse fuelled trio’s crime spree

Methamphetamine abuse compelled an Ashburton couple and their friend to steal thousands of dollars worth of goods by burgling homes, breaking into cars, and snatching bank cards.

Quentin Charles Parkinson was sentenced to seven months’ home detention on 58 charges, Stacey Leigh Curtis to six months’ supervision on 22, and Jayden Eric Cromie to 12 months’ supervision on 32 when they appeared before Judge Joanna Maze in the Timaru District Court yesterday.

Judge Maze also ordered Parkinson to pay $9202.06 in reparation, Curtis $2181.83, and Cromie $990.37 to their victims.

Parkinson, 40, had pleaded guilty to seven charges of burglary, 14 of theft, 14 of using a document for pecuniary advantage, two of attempting to use a document, five of obtaining a document, 12 of receiving property, two of possessing a drug utensil, possessing cannabis plant, and possessing an offensive weapon.

Curtis, 30, had admitted burglary, seven charges of theft, four of using a document for pecuniary advantage, eight of receiving property, possessing a drug utensil, and possessing cannabis plant.

Cromie, 31, had admitted obtaining a document for pecuniary advantage, 22 charges of using a document, four of attempting to use a document, and theft.

The offending occurred in various locations in Canterbury between December 27, 2017, and March 26, 2018, though Parkinson committed his seventh burglary in mid-2019 while on bail for the other charges.

After Parkinson was released on bail to a complex where people were renting rooms, the belongings of other residents turned up in his room.

Judge Maze told Parkinson – the lead offender – ‘‘you were driven by a major addiction problem,’’ the judge said.

‘‘You have not offended in 16 months, and you’re 12 months clean. But, of course, methamphetamine addiction will be with you for life.’’

Parkinson had spent two months in custody and 15 months on electronically-monitored bail in relation to the offending.

‘‘You have made considerable progress on EM bail . . . It would be wrong of me not to recognise your employment, the support you’ve got, and your ability to maintain a drug-free existence.’’

Judge Maze said Parkinson had been exposed to drugs at an early age, his family using him for dealing.

Sentencing Curtis, the judge said her offending had also been to ‘‘meet the demands of an addiction’’.

She had spent 495 days remanded in custody and more than a year on electronicallymonitored bail for the offending.

‘‘You have already paid a penalty more than I would have imposed,’’ Judge Maze said.

‘‘You’ve used a long period of remand and since your release to get help, reflect on your circumstances, and put changes into effect.

‘‘It would be wise for you to be subject to a sentence of supervision, so you can continue with your progress.’’

The judge told Cromie he was still facing issues with drug addiction.

At the time of the offending, Cromie was taking methamphetamine at least once a day but had since reduced his use enough to secure full-time employment, the judge said.

‘‘You have shown a genuine commitment to change.’’

Cooper the cat, who disappeared two years ago, has been reunited with his Temuka family after being found in Twizel.

The ginger and white male moggy was successfully caught by owner Loretta Reynolds in Twizel yesterday and the pair have returned home to where he is ‘‘safe, secure, fed and warm’’, she said. ‘‘It is a miracle really,’’ Reynolds told The Timaru Herald.

The capture comes after a massive mission by her to catch the beloved family pet after she saw a photo of him on a Twizel woman’s social media post asking if anyone had information on a stray cat that was coming through her cat door and eating her cat’s food. Reynolds travelled to Twizel last Friday and saw Cooper but was unable to catch him.

However, that disappointment was forgotten when she returned to the town yesterday with a dropcage trap from Street Cats South

Canterbury and caught him.

Reynolds said that while Cooper ‘‘was a bit scared to start with’’, he calmed down and is now in a dog crate in her spare room.

‘‘He is still very wary of what is going on, so we will let him sit up there for a while and go and talk to him.

‘‘It will just take a lot of patience over the next few days and weeks.

‘‘So hopefully we can get to the stage where we are patting him.’’

Cooper has also been booked in to see a vet next Wednesday.

‘‘He is a bit of a wreck. His fur is all matted and his eyes look all . . . he does not look like a well cat,’’ Reynolds said.

She hopes he will recover ‘‘with some medicine and some warmth’’.

Cooper disappeared two years ago while the family was holidaying in Wa¯naka.

Reynolds thinks Cooper may have hitched a ride to Twizel with her neighbour, who was moving stuff there from Temuka at the time he disappeared.

‘‘At that time our neighbour across the road, he has got family in Twizel and he was back and forth from here quite a lot,’’ she said. ‘‘Now that I think about it, he may have gotten into his vehicle or his caravan or a box, and he has ended up here [in Twizel].’’

Reynolds said having Cooper back was ‘‘absolutely wonderful. Absolutely fantastic’’.

‘‘The children are all at school and they will be delighted when they come home,’’ she said.

‘‘It is one of those things that was so close yet so far away and now we have got him here, and we need to take care of him and keep him inside. [I’m] very happy, very happy.’’ She said she had never expected to see Cooper again. ‘‘It is always in the back of your mind when you don’t know what happened to something or someone; it is always there, the hope that you may find them again but certainly it was a very, very slim chance.’’