Man avoids prison following ‘act of retribution’

A Taranaki man who armed himself with a steel pole and delivered an act of retribution has narrowly avoided jail.

Armed police were called to an Eltham address on March 5, 2019, after Wetini Wheels Weston, 27, went to his victims’ house and smashed up a car and a pane of glass in their front door, New Plymouth District Court was told.

He also pointed the pole at the male occupant of the house.

Weston was seeking retribution for an incident in which his niece was ‘‘chased around’’ Eltham township, the court heard.

Weston’s home was subsequently cordoned off and searched by armed officers. He turned himself in several hours later.

In explanation to police, he admitted he was furious and had gone to the address to deal with the male victim.

In court, he faced sentence on four admitted charges – aggravated burglary and intentional damage in relation to the incident, and, in a separate matter, assault on a person in a family relationship and breach of supervision.

Defence lawyer Julian Hannam pleaded for a sentence of home detention.

He said Weston’s offending was linked to his violent upbringing and provided a cultural report to prove so.

Weston had taken it upon himself to ‘‘send a clear message’’ to the victims which ‘‘was not surprising’’ given what he had been exposed to as a child, Hannam said.

‘‘Mr Weston has quite a different wiring which brought about his reaction to it, than what the average citizen would have.’’

Hannam said his client was now in a ‘‘contemplative stage’’ and was ready to change his behaviour.

‘‘That should be obvious considering he has not committed any offending at all in the past 14 months.’’

Crown prosecutor Jacob Bourke said the offending was premeditated and vigilante.

Other aggravating factors included the use of a weapon and that he had gone on to the property of the victims.

Bourke argued for an end sentence of three years and six months’ jail, saying Weston snubbed a previous opportunity to better himself when he breached his court-imposed supervision.

Weston was sentenced to 12 months of home detention on Friday after Judge Gregory Hikaka made allowances to shrink the sentence to keep him out of prison.

‘‘In my view, prison would not be the right environment for you, particularly at this time of your life when you are committed to moving forward in a positive fashion,’’ Judge Hikaka told Weston. ‘‘It is clear you appreciated very early on that it was not the right thing to do. You actually went to police and acknowledged your offending, and the processes followed thereafter.’’

Judge Hikaka took a start point of three years’ jail with an uplift of six months. Deductions were then made for guilty pleas and the accepted findings in the cultural report.

The end sentence of about 27 months was outside the electronically monitored sentence range of 24 months, so the judge further discounted the sentence to 24 months’ jail, which was then converted to 12 months of home detention.