Jail for ‘raft of offending’

A Christchurch man was off to jail on Thursday after his latest offending in Timaru added to a list of previous convictions that could wallpaper a medium-sized house, according to the sentencing judge.

Dane Joseph O’Neill was told by Judge Campbell Savage in the Timaru District Court that he was “the sort of chap that says he wants to get better every time he’s about to be sentenced, but as soon as he gets out he goes and does exactly the same thing”.

The 37-year-old’s latest “raft of offending”, between June 2, 2023 and January 31, 2024, included three burglaries, with O’Neill making off with a $100,000 Toyota Land Cruiser from a dealership, as well as another vehicle valued at $4000, and a bicycle valued at $6000. There were petrol thefts in Christchurch (Curletts Rd, $157.30) and Rakaia ($97.19) and further minor thefts of a bicycle and helmet from the Pak’n Save and Ballantynes car parks in Timaru.

The final charge was failing to stop for police when O’Neill was seen overtaking multiple vehicles on State Highway 1 through Timaru.

“Your list of previous convictions is enough to wallpaper a medium-sized house,” Judge Savage said.

“I look at the dollar value of the items, in particular the vehicle that stretches to six figures. It was used to drive through the gate of the car dealership as he [O’Neill] was attempting to return to Dunedin.’’

O’Neill was jailed for 15 months on the burglary charges and convicted and discharged on the others. Reparation was ordered for the fuel and other thefts.