Attacker was ‘bored out of mind’
Seven years jail for unprovoked attack and other violent crimes
Ayoung man who committed a spate of violent crimes has told a court he was bored out of his mind. Samson Alec-Nui Tekeu stabbed a stranger six times at a petrol station in an unprovoked attack just days after holding up a takeaway shop at gunpoint to grab a coin bag.
Tekeu, 21, was sentenced to seven years and five months’ imprisonment by Judge Jonathan Moses according to court documents, which were requested in February by the
and released only this week.
On August 26 last year, Tekeu threw a brick through the open window of a car on the forecourt of the Gull Service Station on East Tamaki Rd.
The brick struck Otahuhu man Soane Mateo in the head.
Tekeu attacked Mateo with a large knife, struck him around the head and dragged him out of the car.
Tekeu continued to stab Mateo while another young person clubbed him about the head and back.
The vicious assault came to an end when members of the public were able to scare the attackers away.
“As a result of the attack the victim suffered six stab wounds, a punctured lung, lacerations to his arm, face and the top of his head, and stitches,” Judge Moses said.
Three days later, Tekeu used a sledgehammer to break into the Z Energy on Ormiston Rd.
A security fog cannon filled the store as Tekeu tried to open a cigarette vending machine.
He managed to rob the front counter before running away.
“As your counsel points out, you had said that you had committed this offending because you were bored out of your mind,” the judge said.
“You were and you still are a young man.”
The victim impact statement about the violent assault was “sad and chilling” as it described the toll on Mateo’s life.
“The attack has changed his whole life completely.
“He feels emotionally crippled and the attack has had a significant effect on him.
“He was in hospital fighting for his life and he recalls his children being upset and he feels terrible that his children were so upset.”
Mateo had since separated from his partner and was now living alone.
He had restricted movements and he could not lift anything heavy, the judge said.
“Simple things like shopping are painful.”
He had an ongoing issue with numbness in his leg that prevented him from walking properly, which doctors were still to deal with.
He could no longer drive or work fulltime, which had made if difficult for him to survive and to support his family, the judge said.
“He has had to go to a psychologist and he has significant mood swings.”
He was grateful he was still alive but became angry when he thought about the unprovoked attack.
Judge Moses took into account Tekeu’s genuine remorse, expressed in a letter, and guilty plea.
Tekeu wanted to be a good role model to his children and to be a good partner, the judge said. “You are still going to be a young man when you are released and you still have the opportunity to do that.”
On February 7 in the Manukau District Court, Tekeu was sentenced to seven years and five months’ imprisonment for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and for two charges of aggravated robbery.