Pensioner sentenced for stealing ‘knick-knacks’
Most people are winding down their criminal careers when they reach their 70s, but that’s not the case for a Mataura woman who stole ‘’knick-knacks’’ for her garden.
In the Gore District Court on Wednesday, Judge Stephen O’Driscoll asked why Sharon Lillian Hrabchak, 74, was appearing on a dangerous driving charge, three charges of unlawfully being in an enclosed yard, and one charge of unlawfully being in a building.
“I don’t usually have people in their 70s appearing in court ... I’m struggling to understand why this has occurred, if there has been an illness or breakdown somewhere,’’ Judge O’Driscoll said.
Hrabchak’s lawyer, Jono Ross, said that angle had not been explored.
His client was a pensioner who lived with her cats and several birds, and had an extensive garden with ‘’knickknacks’’ in it, he told the court.
“The things she takes, she puts in her garden, as if they are on display,’’ he said.
A summary of facts said that on September 2, Hrabchak entered a Burns St property and took six fishing rods from a storage area, and on September 8 she took seven pottery containers used for potting plants from a property on Glendhu Rd. She returned to that property on three separate occasions, and took a pot each time.
Between September 11 and 25, she emptied three handmade planter boxes at the back of the Mataura Scout hall and took them.
On December 11, she entered a Mataura property and took a large quantity of concrete bricks that were stacked in front of a shed, and took them to her own garden to use as pavers. On December 18, Hrabchak took a wheelie bin with no lid from outside a neighbouring property and stored it in the garage at the rear of her own property.
Judge O’Driscoll said the most serious offence was a dangerous driving
manoeuvre on September 28 on the Edendale Woodlands highway.
It was raining, and Hrabchak pulled out to overtake a milk tanker, in the path of an oncoming truck.
It was just as well both trucks had moved to the left or there could have been a fatal collision, Judge O’Driscoll said.
The court heard that Hrabchak, who stood with her face down in the dock, had amassed a number of convictions, and had recently been released from prison. Her release conditions expired two days ago.
Judge O’Driscoll sentenced her to four months’ community detention and disqualified her from driving for six months.
Also appearing in court:
■ Stuart Graham Smith, 54, digger driver, of Wyndham, was fined $700 and disqualified from driving for 12 months and one day for driving with a breath alcohol level of 594mcg on Scutari St on March 8.
■ Kent William Blythe, 39, driver, of East Gore, pleaded not guilty and elected trial by jury on one charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on February 24. He was remanded on bail to reappear in the Invercargill District Court on June 12.
■ Jeffrey Charles Shanks, 63, of Pukerau, was fined $450 and disqualified for six months for driving with a breath alcohol level of 553mcg on Clinker Hill Rd on March 2.
■ Vaughan Jackson Nuku Nuku, 53, of Mataura, was sentenced to 40 hours’ community work for a breach of his standard release conditions between March 29 and April 2.
■ Snowey Houpapa Paikea, 54, panelbeater, of Heriot, was fined $1200 and disqualified for 12 months and one day for driving with a breath alcohol level of 688mcg on State Highway 8 at Millers Flat on February 18.
■ Noah Daniel French, 20, of Gore, was convicted and remanded on bail until September 24 for driving while disqualified on Huron St on March 18.
■ William Robert Henderson, 57, of Clinton, was ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within 12 months for speaking threateningly and possessing an offensive weapon on March 22. An order was made for the destruction of the weapon.
■ Kimberley Anne Milne, 36, farmer, of Ohai was fined $350, ordered to pay analysts’ fees of $233.29 and disqualified for six months for driving with a blood alcohol level of 92mg on Main St on February 17.
■ Jayden Phillip Kane, 23, farm worker, of Kuriwao, pleaded guilty to assaulting a person in a family relationship and contravening a protection order. He was remanded on bail to June 12 for sentencing.
■ Morgan Julian Brooking, 41, was sentenced to four months’ home detention, with special conditions for a further six months, and 150 hours’ community work for threatening to kill on November 24 and contravening a protection order on January 25.
■ Michael Donald Soper, 33, shearer, of Gore, was sentenced to 50 hours’ community work and ordered to pay reparation of $178.98 for wilful damage on January 24.
■ Shaun Verdun Tekahu, 53, of Invercargill, was remanded on bail to appear on May 29 for intentionally damaging custody cells that were the property of NZ Police, possessing cannabis and breaching his bail conditions on April 10 in Gore.