Police v Pahl

[2012] NZHC 2920

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND PALMERSTON NORTH REGISTRY

CRI-2012-054-1537 [2012] NZHC 2920

NEW ZEALAND POLICE

v

JAMIE ROBERT PAHL

Counsel:         E Killeen for Crown

M Wilkinson-Smith for Appellant

Sentencing:     6 November 2012

SENTENCING NOTES OF WILLIAMS J

[1]      Jamie Pahl you pleaded guilty to one count of possession for cannabis for supply and I am going to sentence you on that.  I am aware there are other counts in respect of receiving stolen goods and disorderly behaviour and I will address these right at the end.

[2]      In respect of the possession for supply matter, your home was searched on

19 March 2012 and 21.2 grams of packaged cannabis head was found there, together with a set of pocket scales all of which showed a small scale commercial selling operation  that  was,  to  use  words  in  the  cases  “infrequent  and  limited”,  but nonetheless  commercial.    In  respect  of  that,  I  will  adopt  a  starting  point  of

20 months’ imprisonment.

[3]      You have previous cannabis related convictions for cultivation but not for supply, and after careful thought I have decided not to uplift that starting point of 20

NEW ZEALAND POLICE V JAMIE ROBERT PAHL HC PMN CRI-2012-054-1537 [6 November 2012]

months to reflect that earlier offending.  You made an early guilty plea and you are entitled to a 25% discount for that.  That brings me, on my calculation, to 15 months’ imprisonment.

[4]      My initial  intention  was  to  give  you  seven  months’ home  detention  but Mr Pahl this is your lucky day.   It is your lucky day because I have been affected first by what you have said about your custody and care of your daughter; second, what has been said about this job that is in the offing for you; and third, by a supportive pre-sentencing report.

[5]      This is an opportunity to turn whatever has gone on in the past around, and I know you will be highly motivated today because you are standing in front of me, to try and look like a really good boy, and luckily you have succeeded in doing that. But I am much more interested in what your motivation will be like 12 months from now – when you are not standing in front of a Judge, and dealing with life’s usual pressures.

[6]      Because if you are not still motivated then, on the record that will be shown on this sentencing, it will be clear that the next Judge is going to be singularly unsympathetic if you go wrong again.  Now it is easy for you to sound as motivated as anything today but remember what I am saying to you this morning.   Twelve months from now when the going gets tough, that is when you are going to have to make the right decisions – not today – it is easy today.  You understand what I am saying?

[7]      Now this other matter of receiving stolen goods I will also deal with today, I will wrap it into the overall sentence of community work I am going to impose upon you along with other things.

[8]      The scenario that is shown on the summary of facts reflects a young man with a pretty bad attitude who thinks he is tough.  He thinks he is not subject to the authority of the police or the law – whatever might have been your motivations, however unfairly you felt you were treated.  Your behaviour seems to come from a mindset that said it is OK to go all ‘gangster’ when dealing with the police, and

frankly that is very troubling.  Because it is the opposite of the young man that you are trying to portray yourself as today.

[9]      So that has got to be put behind you, as you grow up into a man who has got a job with a family, making a contribution to his family, raising his child well, making a contribution to his community.  You do not have to be perfect – far from it. But the sort of attitude reflected in the summary of facts on the day that you were arrested is the sort of attitude that will end you up in jail repeatedly in the years to come unless you put it behind you. You understand what I am saying.

[10]     On  the  cannabis  counts  you  are  sentenced  to  six  months’  community detention with the curfew as proposed in the pre-sentence report and there will be special conditions attached to your detention – those conditions relate to drug use and other matters.  They and are attached to the pre-sentence report on page 5.  You are also sentenced to 150 hours community work in relation to all counts.

[11]     Thank you – stand down.

Williams J