Drug dealer who tried to sell stolen Armani suits jailed

An Invercargill man who was trying to sell stolen Giorgio Armani suits worth thousands for $120 in Southland has been jailed.

Zane Collins, 20, was sentenced in the Invercargill District Court on Tuesday to 20 months’ jail, after previously pleading guilty to 30 charges for drugs, assault and receiving property.

Collins admitted seven charges of offering to supply MDMA, five charges of possessing methamphetamine, nine charges of offering to supply methamphetamine, possessing LSD, one charge each of selling and possessing cannabis, and four charges of offering to supply Ritalin.

The summary of facts said Collins had ‘‘close links’’ to Mongrel Mob members in Southland.

Police found messages showing Collins’ drug dealing on his phone when they searched his house for an unrelated matter in July last year.

The earliest evidence of drug dealing was from July 2019, when Collins sold an associate an ounce of cannabis for $450.

When police searched Collins’ phone, they found messages revealing that he was trying to sell Giorgio Armani suits to associates. Collins told an associate that one suit was worth $6420, the other $8040, and then offered to sell them for $120 each.

A house on Macmaster St, Invercargill, had been burgled in June 2020 and $3480 in clothing, watches and electronics was stolen, including three Giorgio Armani suits valued at $1200.

In August, police searched Collins’ house again on an unrelated matter, and found two of the suits in his bedroom. Collins later pleaded guilty to receiving property. Two of the suits were to be returned.

On September 1, a few weeks before his 20th birthday, Collins assaulted a man in the exercise yard of the Invercargill Prison. The ‘‘vicious’’ assault was unprovoked, the summary said.

Collins pleaded guilty to assault with intent to injure.

In court on Tuesday, defence lawyer Hugo Young said Collins had written a letter from prison, and it showed he was addressing his issues.

Judge John Brandts-Giesen said Collins had a number of issues in his childhood that would have affected him greatly.

Collins was given discounts for his youth and guilty pleas and was ordered to attend a drug and alcohol programme.

The judge granted leave for Collins to apply for home detention.