Prison for theft of cash from meters
A 46-year-old man broke into parking meters in Christchurch up to 40 times over three months, stealing at least $20,000.
Brent John Davie was charged with theft after police alleged he stole money from parking meters
178 times between January and March 2019. Davie admitted the theft charge in the Christchurch District Court in June last year, but disputed the total number of parking meters and the amount of money involved.
A disputed-facts hearing was held in the Christchurch District Court yesterday before Davie was sentenced to one year in prison.
Police alleged Davie would bike into the central city at night, then use a jimmy bar to force open each meter’s cash door and take the cash tin. ‘‘The cash tins would contain ... cash in coin denominations varying from
$1.70 to $1515 depending on the area and frequency of the coin collection,’’ police said.
Police said more than $53,000 was stolen and about $42,000 worth of damage was caused.
The thefts came to the attention of the Christchurch City Council in November 2018, when an unusual number of faults showed on the system used to manage the meters. Technicians found doors of the faulty meters had been forced open and cash tins removed. A technician said the meters had significant damage initially, but damage lessened as the thefts continued, presumably as the thief improved their skills. CCTV footage of some of the thefts showed it sometimes took less than 30 seconds to access the cash tin.
When Davie was arrested in May last year, he admitted to police that he was responsible for most of the thefts. Eleven cash tins were found at his home.
Defence counsel Andrew McKenzie said Davie was never told how many thefts police were investigating so could not claim responsibility for the ‘‘majority’’ of them and it was not possible to determine how much he stole.
Judge Kevin Phillips said the police investigation was not detailed enough to link Davie to 178 thefts, but he accepted there was evidence to prove Davie was responsible for 30 to 40 of them and had taken $20,000 to $35,000.
Davie’s jail sentence will run concurrently with another sentence of two months’ jail for shoplifting a personal grooming kit from Briscoes in Riccarton.
Davie admitted he had severe addictions to drugs and gambling. Judge Phillips ordered that he undergo counselling, assessment and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse.