Guilty plea to felling native trees

A man has pleaded guilty to causing an estimated $40,000 of damage when he chopped down eight po¯hutukawa trees along a suburban street.

Alexei Leandios Hodder, 40, pleaded guilty to intentionally causing damage by chopping down the trees lining Harbourside Drive in Karaka, south Auckland on October 25.

Hodder, whose interim name suppression lapsed yesterday, appeared via audio-visual link from Levin District Court near where he lives in Himatangi Beach.

Court documents showed Auckland Council estimated the damage at $40,704, although Hodder has disputed that sum.

He has requested a review of the sum of the proposed reparations. Hodder will appear in the Levin District Court for sentencing on January 20, 2021.

He was arrested following the release of a surveillance video showing him carrying a lightcoloured chainsaw near the area where the trees were cut down. The chainsaw was also later found.