Latest news with #OpenJustice
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Mongols associates sentenced after man beaten, ute stolen
By Al Williams, Open Justice reporter A man invited to the Mongols' pad for a drink was later beaten, had his ute keys taken from him and was forced to sign the vehicle over to the gang. He signed the paperwork under duress after he was told the only alternative was for him to cough up $14,000. This week, the Christchurch District Court heard the man was at Mongols associate Benjamin Moody's house in Christchurch on March 9 last year when Moody suggested they go to the motorcycle gang's clubhouse in Burnham. When the pair arrived around 5pm, former Mongols prospect Steve Graham Taylor was working the bar at the pad. Moody and the man were there until around midnight when they returned to Moody's home. There, the man told Moody he planned to sleep in his ute, to which Moody responded by punching him in the face. Moody told the man to hand over the ute keys, which, fearing he would be assaulted again, he did. Moody left the address before returning shortly after with Taylor. The man tried to leave after being punched again by Moody but Taylor and Moody followed him and told him to take a shower and go to bed. The man complied, and when he woke around 7.30am, he asked Moody for his keys. Moody told him Taylor had taken them and he wasn't getting them back. The man left the address with a friend but went back to Moody's later in the day to try again to retrieve his keys. Moody reiterated the keys would not be returned and told him he had disrespected the 'Mongol Nation'. It was not mentioned in court why Moody believed the man had disrespected the gang. However, Taylor told the man if he spoke to someone at the gang pad, there was a chance he could get his keys back. Taylor and the man travelled to the pad and the man was soon told he had two options: pay the gang $14,000 or sign over his ute. Under pressure, he signed his ute over to the Mongols and was warned not to go to the police. However, following the incident, Moody and Taylor were arrested and Taylor told police the man had willingly signed over the vehicle to pay a debt. Taylor said it was Moody who had assaulted the man. Moody, when speaking with officers, admitted he had assaulted him but said he had nothing to do with taking his ute. In court, Moody faced charges of assault and conversion of a motor vehicle in relation to the incident, and separate charges of reckless driving, failing to stop and driving contrary to an alcohol interlock licence. Taylor was charged with conversion of a motor vehicle, and also faced unrelated charges of possession of an offensive weapon and driving while disqualified. Judge Tom Gilbert described the ute ordeal as a traumatic experience for the man. 'This was a very nasty incident; there could have been a more serious charge,' he said. The court heard the man sustained black eyes, bruising to his nose, face and head, cuts to his lip and the inside of his mouth, scraped knees, bruising and scrapes to his hands, and a bump on the back of his head. Judge Gilbert said Taylor's involvement was less than Moody's and noted Taylor had since left the gang and was an engaged father. He sentenced him to 10 months' home detention while Moody was jailed for 21 months.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Northland paedophile James Parker's jail time extended after new victim comes forward
By Shannon Pitman, Open Justice reporter of Northland paedophile James Parker. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf WARNING: This article discusses sexual abuse and may be upsetting to some readers. A convicted paedophile and former school deputy principal, who was on the verge of being released, has had his sentence upped after another victim came forward. James Parker's latest offending has been described as more serious, a judge noting it had a "sadistic flavour" and was "predatory and certainly controlling". The seven charges relate to two young boys he sexually violated between 2009 and 2011 - even using a Taser so one would do as he was told. Parker, 50, appeared in the Whangārei District Court on Wednesday for sentencing but his final sentence posed significant issues. In 2013 Parker was handed a sentence in the High Court at Whangārei of preventive detention with a minimum period of imprisonment (MPI) of seven years for offending he committed while teaching at Pamapuria School in the Far North. Complaints began to surface about Parker's behaviour in 2009 which went nowhere but he was given a police warning that he should stop having boys stay at his home. By 2012, after mounting complaints, Parker was arrested and the principal was eventually sacked for failing to ensure the safety of the students. Parker admitted to 74 charges of child sexual abuse on 20 boys between 1999 and 2012. The youngest was nine years old. It was revealed Parker used his trusted position in the rural community to host sleepovers with boys, many of whom had disruptive home lives. There were at least 300 known sexual incidents in what the Crown said at the time was "without comparison in New Zealand history". The court heard the latest victims were also offended against during the same time period. As was often the case, he had the boys sleep over and sexually violated both of them, one specifically. Parker has been in prison for 12 years and first came up for parole five years ago, but has been declined four times. Much of Wednesday's sentencing discussion centred around the difficulty of determining how many more years he must now serve before being eligible again for parole. Over the past decade multiple reports have been completed on Parker and the Parole Board was recently considering the possibility of guided release into the community. 'The comments are concerning' Crown lawyer Richard Annandale submitted, had these charges been before the court in 2013, Parker would have likely had an MPI of 10 years. Annandale was critical of Parker's level of remorse after Parker mentioned previously he could not remember these victims. "The comments are the concerning aspect in a way that he justified or minimised the behaviour, whether he remembers it or not," Annandale submitted. "When one's considering an end sentence, parole eligibility should not be before three years." Parker's lawyer Steve Cullen submitted a statement from Parker that he was deeply aware of the harm he had caused. Parker said through his lawyer he was concerned about the impact of media coverage on his previous victims and referenced none had gone on to the victims' notification registrar. "He thought perhaps they wanted to put it behind them and move on and not hear about any more," Cullen submitted. Cullen also submitted the requirements of Corrections meant Parker was not able to access rehabilitation until his seven-year MPI had been reached. Cullen said a new MPI would restrict his rehabilitation and the process would have to start again. "It's wrong, but it's what the prison does ... It's absolutely futile," Cullen said. 'Significantly sadistic flavour' Judge Gene Tomlinson said the latest charges had a difference from others. "The indecencies of [suppressed] are in my assessment, and indeed, have a more serious and significantly sadistic flavour. "Certainly predatory and certainly controlling, which I did not detect in the sentencing notes of Justice Heath when recounting your offending in 2013." Judge Tomlinson said the impact on the victims was extreme, robbing them of a full life because of his predatory behaviour. He acknowledged Parker's early guilty plea but said with his prior history, he had no chance of winning. Parker was sentenced to eight years and six months' imprisonment with no MPI. "In the circumstances you present, I am satisfied the usual time frame for seeking parole on a sentence such as eight-and-a-half-years is entirely appropriate in the circumstances when balanced against all of the factors in your case." As Parker's new prison term begins this week, he will be eligible for parole after serving one third of his sentence. If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111. - This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald
RNZ News
5 days ago
- RNZ News
Daine Williams jailed after young girl finds camera, exposes years of voyeuristic filming
By Tracy Neal, Open Justice multimedia journalist of Daine Williams sobbed during sentencing in the Nelson District Court on charges related to him secretly filming multiple victims. Photo: NZME / Tracey Neal Warning: This story contains details of offending that may upset some readers A young girl who spotted a hidden camera perched on the windowsill of her family bathroom threw it out the window. She then went and told her parents, who found it in the garden, leading to the discovery of a cache of disturbing material, including images of their child in the shower. Now, Daine Arthur Williams has been jailed for secretly filming people, mainly women and girls in their bathrooms and members of the public as they walked about the city streets. Williams wore a camera on his shoe and targeted women in dresses so he could capture "upskirted" images of them. Some victims were colleagues at a former workplace. Others were unknowingly filmed as they walked around Nelson. In another instance, he filmed a man using the toilet and then taking a shower. During Williams' sentencing in the Nelson District Court today, Judge Tony Snell said it was apparent that Williams had been secretly filming people for years. He had been caught but was never prosecuted and had gone on to re-offend. Judge Snell described Williams as "highly manipulative and capable of outrageous lies". In many instances, he filmed himself turning the camera on and off, which is what led the police to him when the camera was handed in. Williams, who appeared to sob frequently throughout the hearing, will be banned from returning to the Nelson region, following his release from a two-and-a-half-year prison term. Judge Snell said that the "crocodile tears" he once shed, pretending to care for one of his victims before it was known he was the offender, demonstrated the "manipulative and nasty person" he was. The 40-year-old was sentenced on charges of knowingly making an objectionable publication, four charges of making an intimate visual recording, burglary and two representative charges of possessing an intimate visual recording. The charges related to video footage police found in Williams' possession, involving three victims from one family Williams knew, and 20 other victims whom the police could not identify. One of three known victims said in a highly charged delivery of her victim impact statement that the toll taken by the discovery had been "profound". "Our hearts are shattered and fear has consumed us. We no longer feel safe in our home." She added the sense of betrayal had been overwhelming, and she remained haunted by the thought of how long Williams might have been filming them. "The hurt and anger you have caused is impossible to describe," she said tearfully. Crown prosecutor Jackson Webber said there were "numerous" aggravating features to Williams' offending, including the high degree of pre-meditation and planning. He watched his victims for months and devised an exit strategy for if he was caught. Defence lawyer Michael Vesty said Williams accepted the great deal of violation felt by the victims, and that the shockwaves had gone way beyond him to his family and extended family. On a night in October last year, Williams went to the victims' address, opened a bathroom window and placed a camera on the windowsill inside. At 6am the next morning, he recorded a young girl, known as victim one, as she went about her morning routine. She saw the gooseneck, adjustable camera and threw it out the window, thinking it was a "walkie talkie". Her parents retrieved it from the garden, and called the police. An initial download revealed six media files containing three videos stored on an SD card, one of which was 20 minutes long and showed a child unknowingly exposing herself while showering and drying herself. Once the camera had been found, but before Williams was identified, he spoke with one of the victims, saying he was "sorry" such a thing had happened to them. He even began to tear up, and hug the victim, the police summary of facts said. He suggested others as the culprits then asked the victim how her husband was coping because "the role of a father is to protect your kids, and, in this situation, he hasn't been able to". Judge Snell said that comment made the father a victim, also. He said Williams' "predatory, invasive and horrible offending" for his own voyeuristic sexual gratification had had terrible consequences, for those that knew about it. On 11 November last year police searched Williams' home and found items, including clothing, that matched what was seen in one of the videos. Police said the camera and SD card were sent to a digital forensic unit for further examination, which revealed deleted items including more video files of the family's bathroom from different camera angles, while another was a video of victim one walking into her bedroom, wrapped in a towel. The discovery that many others had been secretly filmed followed the seizure of electronic items during the search of Williams' home on 11 November. Included among the items were three "exhibits" containing 38 videos and one "image of interest". Twenty-seven of the 38 videos found were captured from the camera on Williams' shoe, of which 11 were "upskirting" videos. In one instance, he spent a minute doing this, and in another, he spent almost half an hour filming 16 women walking around Nelson, aged from young teens to adults. Police said Williams' targeting of four victims, who were captured on "multiple occasions" after they were followed, showed "predatory, stalking behaviour". The videos, which ranged in length, showed unknown bathrooms and a person using a shower in a cubicle with no door and a toilet. In one video Williams captured himself setting up the camera in a bathroom and calling out "the bathroom's free" as a teenage girl walked in, turned on the shower and got undressed. The video stopped before she got out. Judge Snell said that Williams, if left untreated, presented a high risk of re-offending. He was automatically registered as a child sex offender. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
RNZ News
6 days ago
- RNZ News
Marlborough man leaves boys with loaded rifle on beach, judge condemns 'stupid behaviour'
By Tracy Neal, Open Justice reporter of Aaron Grant Pickering has been sentenced in the Nelson District Court on firearms and hunting charges after a trip with two young boys to d'Urville Island in the Marlborough Sounds. Photo: NZME A man left two young boys on a beach with a loaded rifle while he went off fishing and drinking. Now he's been told off by a judge for his "stupid behaviour" that could have set the boys up for a lifetime of grief, after they tried to shoot a pig. "You left a 10-year-old and a 15-year-old with a loaded .308 rifle to go hunting on the island while you went drinking and fishing. "God knows who they might have shot and killed or wounded," Judge Tony Snell said in a scathing sentencing of Aaron Grant Pickering. The 50-year-old, who did not have a firearms licence after it was earlier revoked, later claimed to have tossed the rifle into the sea off d'Urville Island in the Marlborough Sounds. Judge Snell said there was no way the boys could have known if anyone was nearby when they shot at a pig from the beach. To put it mildly, he said it was "stupid behaviour" on Pickering's part, that might have had devastating consequences for the boys if they had injured someone else. "It was a massive recipe for disaster," and the most serious offending of its type, Judge Snell said. Pickering, who was said by his lawyer to spend long periods at sea as a crew member on a Niwa vessel, today admitted in the Nelson District Court charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful hunting. The police summary of facts said the hunting trip was on private land on d'Urville Island. His firearms licence had been revoked in 2009 after a final protection order was made against him. In April 2013 Pickering inquired about getting his firearms licence back, but was told that a protection order was still in place, and to investigate how it might be discharged. The police summary of facts said the order remains in place. On 8 January Pickering, who lived in Marlborough's Rai Valley, about half way between Nelson and Blenheim, took the boys on the trip. At about 7pm that night he dropped the boys on a beach with the loaded rifle, which had a telescopic scope and a suppressor, and went off to a fishing spot. The police said Pickering continued drinking as he fished. A short time later the 10 year-old shot at a pig, but after a short search he and the other boy were unable to find the animal. Pickering tried to start his boat, but couldn't because of mechanical problems, so signalled to the driver of a boat nearby, who came to help. Pickering asked the people on board to collect the boys off the island, but when they found them, they asked the youngsters who had given them permission to hunt there. Neither was able to answer, and continually changed their story, the police said. Pickering later told the police that he had the rifle to "put meat on the table" and that he had thrown it into the ocean on return to Admiralty Bay. Defence lawyer Mark Dollimore said Pickering had "shot himself in the foot," with the charges, and accepted it was unlikely that the police or court might believe the rifle had been ditched. Judge Snell said he had read that with a "huge amount of scepticism". "I don't believe it has been thrown away", he said. Judge Snell said there were several aggravating features to Pickering's offending, including that he had been disqualified from holding a firearms licence, he was hunting on private land, which the owner knew nothing about, and he had left the boys with a loaded rifle. He said there was a lot at stake for Pickering, including his employment and in his personal life, but it was a "foolish act on many levels". Judge Snell said in sentencing Pickering to 120 hours of community work, and fining him $2000, that he was unlikely to ever get his firearms licence back now. He noted Pickering's previous offending, and said if there was any repeat of a firearms charge, he would likely end up in jail. Judge Snell added a final warning on Pickering's file. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
Otago Daily Times
21-06-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Nurse cons cash from colleagues, jets off to Taylor Swift
- By Belinda Feek, Open Justice multimedia journalist A nurse who took more than $100,000 from three sympathetic colleagues after claiming her mother had died and her dad was sick spent the money on gambling and trips overseas. She even attended a Taylor Swift concert in Sydney and a Yankees game and Justin Timberlake concert in New York. Angelina Nicole Therese Avisado Reyes, a nurse at Waikato District Health Board at the time, was so persistent with one victim that he ended up transferring $107,000 to her over six months. That victim cashed in investments, withdrew savings and handed over part of his inheritance from a dead grandparent, after Reyes claimed she had tried to commit suicide because she was so stressed. Reyes, who no longer works at the DHB, eventually confessed and told him she'd lost $18,000 of his money gambling. The 33-year-old appeared in the Hamilton District Court recently, where she pleaded guilty to three charges of obtaining by deception, one of which was representative, after taking $112,000 from her colleagues. Her counsel, Raewyn Sporle, asked Judge Noel Cocurullo not to enter convictions as she would be applying for a Section 106 discharge without conviction at her sentencing in October. 'Can't afford a burial plot' for purportedly dead mother Reyes, who is now on bail, unsuccessfully challenged a media request for a copy of court documents detailing her offending. A judge granted NZME permission to have them. According to those documents, the first victim was made aware by her manager in early December 2023 that Reyes' mother in the Philippines was sick and in hospital. In March 2024, she was told Reyes' mother had died. When she later saw Reyes and noticed she was crying they spoke. Later that morning, the victim got a message from Reyes saying her mother had died, she had no money, and couldn't afford a burial plot in the Philippines for her. After speaking to her husband, the victim agreed to transfer $2000 to Reyes. Around the end of the month, the second victim saw Reyes and noticed she seemed distracted, was always on her phone, and asked if she was all right. Reyes said her mother in the Philippines was sick. Over the next couple of weeks, Reyes said her mother had a heart attack, was hospitalised, then discharged, then later readmitted, and then died. Another time, she said her father had been hospitalised with a 'brain problem' and that it was 'very serious'. On April 11, the victim got a Facebook message from Reyes saying she was back home, her father was in hospital, and asking if she could borrow some money and that she would pay her back on payday. When asked how much she needed, Reyes said $3000. 'Tell your parents you've been scammed' In January 2024, Reyes told the third victim her mother was in hospital and needed $10,000 for the cost of heart surgery. She contacted him a week later saying her mother had a heart attack and she needed the money 'immediately', but it was now going to cost $90,000 for the surgery and hospital expenses. She asked for $35,000. At the time, the victim didn't have the money directly, so he cashed in some investments and withdrew some savings totalling $36,000. Reyes promised to pay him back by the end of the year. On February 11, she advised her boss that her mother had died during surgery and told several other colleagues over the following days. Immigration records revealed Reyes flew to Sydney overnight on February 23 to attend a Taylor Swift concert. During this time, she'd also falsely claimed two weeks of bereavement leave. On March 9, Reyes contacted the victim again, saying she needed $1000 that day to pay the funeral director to have her mother's body released, but said she needed it in e-vouchers, due to sending it to the Philippines. She was back in touch again on May 6, saying her father now needed surgery and required $6000. The victim was only able to transfer $1000. The victim inherited more than $60,000 from a deceased grandparent on May 10, and told Reyes he could loan her more money if required. She asked for $40,000, which they agreed to transfer. Three days later, Reyes asked for another $10,000 to travel home to see her sick father. In July, she contacted the victim again, saying she was in the Philippines and had been hospitalised after trying to commit suicide and had incurred a debt of $30,000. The victim didn't have that much and instead transferred her $600 and gave her a $400 pay safe card. He then cashed up more investments as he wanted to help her and put $18,000 in her account. However, Immigration records showed she was in New York between June 16 and July 14 last year, and attended a Yankees baseball game and a Justin Timberlake concert. On July 23, she called the victim and told him she owed lawyers $100,000 and if she didn't pay it, her father would go to jail. She also claimed to be suicidal again. The victim said he didn't have any money, but Reyes told him to tell his parents he had been scammed out of the money. However, he declined to do that. The next day, she video-called the victim and said she had flights booked back to New Zealand but couldn't leave the country until she paid the $100,000. She later told him she had lied about owing the $100,000, and had lost $18,000 gambling. 'Mum and Dad are alive and well' Reyes siphoned $107,200 from that victim alone due to the stories she had told him. When questioned by police, Reyes said she had a 'big gambling problem'. She also admitted lying about her mother's death, that her father was sick, and that she had attempted suicide so the victim would give her money. Reyes also confirmed that her mother and father were 'alive and well' in the Philippines.
