DANNEVIRKE DISTRICT COURT

The following people appeared before Judge Geoff Rea in Dannevirke District Court yesterday:

Unable to comprehend why he had been accused of stealing wine from Pahiatua New World, Rowan Trevor Swift, 38, of Pahiatua, denied a shoplifting charge. ‘‘Not guilty, mate,’’ Swift said as he entered his plea. ‘‘I was in there doing my groceries and they came up and said I’d stolen wine a week ago. That was the first I’d heard of it. I wasn’t caught red-handed.’’ The judge said it was not necessary to catch someone red-handed, and remanded Swift on bail until next month. ‘‘Sweet as,’’ Swift said.

After his stereo was seized during the early hours of December 18, a Woodville man became abusive to police and noise control officers on their repeated visits to his house. Wiremu Raipa Brinfield, 27, had said he knew where one noise officer lived, and it would be funny if he woke up to find his car on the roof. The labourer also told a police officer he earned more in a night than the officer would in a week. On a disorderly behaviour charge, Brinfield was sentenced to 250 hours’ community work. He was banned from driving, but still rode his Harley-davidson bike in Pahiatua on November 11. Michael Joseph Papa, 47, unemployed, was stopped by police and found to have 213 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The limit is 80mg. Papa will be sentenced in March on one charge each of drink-driving and driving while suspended. Unhappy at being denied a $500 advance on his pay, despite all his hard work, Matthew Anton Timu assaulted his boss. Unsurprisingly, the Dannevirke shearer, 29, has changed jobs since December 9, when the shoving occurred. On an assault charge, Timu was sentenced to 60 hours’ community work.