R v Wihongi HC Whangarei CRI 2008-088-003246
[2008] NZHC 2511
•19 August 2008
IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND WHANGAREI REGISTRY
CRI 2008-088-003246
THE QUEEN
v
ALMA ARCHIE WIHONGI
Charges: See Schedule
Plea: Guilty
Appearances: Michael Smith for Crown
John Day for Prisoner
Sentenced: 19 August 2008
4½ years imprisonment (see schedule)
SENTENCING NOTES OF HARRISON J
SOLICITORS
Marsden Woods Inskip & Smith (Whangarei) for Crown
JS Day (Whangarei) for Prisoner
R V WIHONGI HC WHA CRI 2008-088-003246 19 August 2008
Table of Offences and Sentences
Charge CRN Sentence Possession of Class A
controlled drug for supply
CRN 3955 3 years imprisonment Dangerous driving causing
injury
CRN 3984 6 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Possession of Class C
controlled drug for supply
CRN 3956 2 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Possession of a pipe CRN 3957 1 month imprisonment
(concurrent)
Failing to stop for red and
blue flashing lights
CRN 0504 Convicted and discharged Dangerous driving CRN 0506 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Driving while suspended CRN 0505 1 month imprisonment
(concurrent)
Gives false details as to
identity
CRN 0507 Convicted and discharged Breach of bail CRN 0844 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Breach of bail CRN 0383 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Breach of bail CRN 0560 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Driving while suspended CRN 0912 6 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Dangerous driving CRN 6976 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Assault with a weapon CRN 6975 6 months imprisonment
(cumulative)
Escapes from lawful custody CRN 2825 6 months imprisonment
(cumulative)
Dangerous driving CRN 2826 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Breach of bail CRN 5424 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Unlawfully takes motor
vehicle
CRN 3207 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Dangerous driving CRN 3217 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Failing to stop for red/blue
flashing lights
CRN 3218 Convicted and discharged Unlawfully takes motor
vehicle
CRN 6176 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Possession of an offensive
weapon
CRN 1141 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Resist police CRN 1142 1 month imprisonment
(concurrent)
Burglary CRN 4858 6 months imprisonment
(cumulative)
Unlawfully taking a
motorcycle
CRN 4857 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Theft CRN 4856 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Driving while suspended CRN 9102 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Driving while suspended CRN 9414 3 months imprisonment
(concurrent)
Receiving CRN 9536 1 year imprisonment
(concurrent)
Receiving CRN 9535 1 year imprisonment
(concurrent)
Introduction
[1] Mr Wihongi, you appear for sentence today following pleas of guilty to 30 charges. You are in this Court because the most serious of them is the charge of possessing methamphetamine for supply. The others fall into a pattern of dishonesty, violence and driving offences. All have been grouped before me for sentencing today.
[2] Before I deal with the facts of the offences I want to say a number of introductory things. First, you are aged 44 years. You have 80 previous convictions for similar offending – when I say ‘similar’, they are mostly for minor crimes and this is your first appearance on a serious drug related offence.
[3] Second, Mr Wihongi, when I sentence you I do not intend to traverse the facts of each and every offence. I will simply discuss the main offences because they will dictate the length of your sentence. Third, most if not all of these offences occurred over a period of time when I accept that you were acting under the influence of methamphetamine or alcohol. You recognise your addictive problems. At the end of this sentencing today it will be for you to determine what steps you wish to take to change your life if you can.
[4] Fourth, Mr Wihongi, I must say that the nature and the magnitude of some of the dangerous driving offences is of the most shocking type that I have read about. You have frequently placed the lives, the health and the wellbeing of others at risk. You may contemplate now what would have happened if during one of these episodes you had struck another vehicle or a pedestrian who was related to you. You can understand the fear that Constable Groves suffered. You can understand the anxiety that you have caused for others. It was not just careless or inadvertent driving. It was deliberate and on one occasion you used a vehicle as a weapon. In one sense you are somebody from whom the public needs protection when driving is at issue. I suspect you recognise that now.
[5] Fifth, and perhaps most important, Mr Wihongi, I want to acknowledge your whanau support. In Court today are your wife, your children and wider members of the whanau. You know that you have put your whanau through enormous pain and hardship over many years. The fact, though, that they are here to stand by you today and support you through the most difficult time in your life says a lot about you and a lot about them. Your wife’s letter has been very moving – an expression of love, support and forgiveness. I shall record what she wants me to emphasise. Despite these serious crimes you are at heart a good person. You should not be before a Court and you should not be before the Court for these types of offences and with this regularity.
[6] I now come to the facts of the offences. What I will do, Mr Wihongi, is this. I will deal with each charge. I will, as I proceed, identify the appropriate sentence for each. I will progressively tell you whether those sentences are to be served concurrently (that is, side by side) or cumulatively (that is, in addition to each other).
17 July 2008
[7] The first and most serious offence is the charge of possessing methamphetamine for supply (CRN 3955). Your vehicle was stopped on 1 July
2008 following the latest in these bouts of dangerous driving. On that occasion you drove your vehicle through a checkpoint at speeds of up to 137 km per hour. You were within a residential housing zone with a 50 km per hour speed restriction. Those bald facts speak for themselves about the risk at which you placed others.
[8] You were pursued by the police. You collided with a police vehicle. In that event Constable Groves suffered injuries to his arm. I accept that you have apologised to him. But you have seen for yourself the extent of the injuries and the fear and anxiety the event caused him and his own whanau. Following a search of your vehicle the police found a tin container with about six grams of methamphetamine and four point bags.
[9] I must fix the starting point on that charge. The starting point is the appropriate term of imprisonment for the offence itself before I take into account any
personal circumstances. You will understand from Mr Day that High Court Judges must sentence within bands or tariffs, depending on the amount of drugs that are recovered.
[10] On this charge I am satisfied that the appropriate starting point is five years imprisonment. That takes into account the evils of the drug of methamphetamine, the harm that it causes not only to the users but the wider families and whanau of those who deal in it. I do not need to emphasise to you, Mr Wihongi, its shocking effects. You are a victim of them yourself.
[11] The starting point is to be aggravated up by another term of one year to a total of six years to take into account the related offences – that is, of dangerous driving causing injury, on which you would be sentenced with a starting point of at least one year; on the charge of possessing cannabis for supply, and the charge of possession of a pipe. Those two offences would attract sentences of at least two and one months respectively. That is how we come to a cumulative starting point of six years.
[12] However, against that, Mr Wihongi, you are entitled to a substantial credit. First and foremost there is, as Mr Day emphasised, your plea of guilty. Second, I do take into account your personal circumstances and the support of your whanau. Third, there is another circumstance for which I also allow a credit. In total these factors would justify a reduction against a six year starting point of three years. Thus the end sentence on the charge of possessing methamphetamine for supply is three years. So that it sets your mind at rest, Mr Wihongi, that is the most serious charge and is easily the largest term of imprisonment that I will impose today. It exceeds in total the other terms which will be imposed. On the related charges of dangerous driving causing injury, possessing cannabis for supply and possession of a pipe, you are sentenced to concurrent terms of imprisonment of six months, two months and one month respectively.
25 February 2008
[13] I now come to all the other charges. On 25 February this year you failed to stop for red and blue flashing lights. That charge carries a maximum penalty of
$10,000 fine. You have no means. I convict and discharge you on that. On the charge of dangerous driving at the same time, I sentence you to a term of three months imprisonment – the maximum which can be imposed. On that occasion you drove at speeds in excess of 150 km per hour in a zone with a speed limit of 80 km per hour. At one part of this excursion you drove on the wrong side of a roundabout; you turned right into another road. By that stage you were within a 50 km speed limit in a built up residential area. You drove through a compulsory stop sign at
100 km per hour. You drove on the wrong side of the road for another 400 metres. That is a brief summary of what must have been a terrifying ordeal for other road users. You were only stopped because the police were able to use spikes to deflate the tyres on the vehicle. Even then you drove into a service station at speed and tried to escape.
[14] On the charge of driving while suspended – that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of three months – the appropriate sentence is one month imprisonment. On the charge of giving false details as to your identity, it carries a maximum fine of $10,000. You are again convicted and discharged. From the brief summary of your offending that day on 25 February 2008, you will see that you are eligible for a number of terms of imprisonment. However, Mr Wihongi, in the interests of totality I intend to make those terms of imprisonment concurrent (that is, side by side) the lead offence of three years.
[15] There are a number of charges of breaching bail. For those there is a maximum term of imprisonment of one year. On each you are sentenced to terms of imprisonment of three months. On each of them, though, those terms will be concurrent with each other; they will not be added to your total sentence.
[16] Finally in that saga there is a charge of driving while suspended. On that you are eligible to a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment. I impose a term of six months. Again, though, it is concurrent with the other offences. You will not serve any further time for that offence either.
12 December 2007
[17] I now come to events on 12 December 2007. On that occasion you drove into Whangarei to collect your wife and your daughter. Her boyfriend was there. You and her boyfriend had a verbal disagreement. You left. The boyfriend followed you to a bakery. The argument continued and turned into a scuffle. In due course the young man walked across the road in an attempt to get away from you.
[18] You got into your vehicle and accelerated rapidly, spinning the vehicle wheels. You drove through the middle of a raised pedestrian island. You crossed on to the wrong side of the road and into incoming traffic. Motorists, of course, had to swerve to avoid a collision. After that, Mr Wihongi, and this is the most adverse aspect of the offending, you used the vehicle to drive at your daughter’s boyfriend. It was a weapon in your very dangerous hands. You narrowly missed him and skidded to a stop. But that was not enough. You then reversed back and drove towards him again, striking him with the left front of the vehicle. He suffered minor grazing to his legs and his arms.
[19] That offending gives rise to charges of dangerous driving and assault with a weapon. On the dangerous driving charge you are sentenced again to three months imprisonment but that is concurrent or alongside the other offences. However, the assault with the car falls into a different category. It justifies a starting point of one year imprisonment. Taking into account all those favourable factors that I discussed when sentencing you on the methamphetamine dealing charge, that starting point is reduced by 50% to six months. However, that sentence is cumulative upon your existing sentence of three years imprisonment. That marks its seriousness.
14 October 2007
[20] On 14 October 2007 you escaped from police custody. I do not need to go into the details. You were stopped while driving a vehicle near Kerikeri. You gave incorrect details. When the police officer was speaking to you, you drove away at excessive speeds. Again you caused real risk and danger to pedestrians and other
point is one year. In my judgment again you should be entitled to a 50% discount for the favourable personal factors. The end sentence there is six months, but that is also cumulative upon the other charges; that is, added to it. You also were charged at the same time with dangerous driving and breach of bail. On both of those you are sentenced to three months imprisonment but on each they are concurrent; that is, to be served side by side with the existing offences.
9 August 2007
[21] On 9 August 2007 you unlawfully took a motor vehicle. The maximum sentence for that is seven years imprisonment. The appropriate term for you will be three months. You were also charged on 12 April 2007 with dangerous driving and with failing to stop for a red light. On the first you are sentenced to three months imprisonment and on the second you are convicted and discharged. The effect again, Mr Wihongi, to pause here, is that none of these charges which on their own would have justified terms of imprisonment will not be served separately or additionally by you; they will be concurrent with the existing terms. So, too, for the offence of failing to stop for a red light.
16 February 2007
[22] On 16 February 2007 you were found with a motor vehicle which had been stolen. You pleaded guilty to one charge of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle. On that you are sentenced to three months imprisonment. You were also charged with possession of an offensive weapon on 27 January 2007 when you were in possession of a steering wheel lock. On that charge the term of imprisonment is three months. Similarly at the same time you pleaded guilty to resisting arrest following a short struggle with a police officer. The sentence there is one month imprisonment. Again all of those sentences are concurrent; they will not be added to the lead sentences.
burglary of an automobile company where you stole a Triumph Trident motorbike. You have read the victim impact report. You know what that bike meant to its owner. You understand the degree of his loss. On that the appropriate term of imprisonment is one year. Again it is to be reduced by 50% for personal circumstances to six months. However, it is cumulative upon, that is added to, other sentences.
[24] You have been charged also, as part of that series of offences, with unlawfully taking a motorcycle, with theft, and driving while suspended twice. On each of those you are sentenced to three months imprisonment. Those sentences will be concurrent.
[25] Finally, Mr Wihongi, on 25 March 2005 or thereafter you received two motor vehicles. On each of them the maximum term of imprisonment is seven years. I sentence you to a term of one year on each. Again those will be concurrent.
Conclusion
[26] By my calculations, therefore, Mr Wihongi, applying the totality principle to all your offending, you are sentenced to a total term of four-and-a-half years imprisonment. I want you to understand this; had it not been for the support of your wife and your whanau the term would have been substantially longer. I am giving you a chance, perhaps against my better judgment. It is for you to determine whether you take it. In prison, Mr Wihongi, there are, as you know, many programmes available to you. I trust that you are good to your word; that you use this time to improve yourself; and that you are able to fight the demons which have bedevilled your life in recent years. If you do that I wish you well.
[27] You have fines totalling $17,000. They are all remitted; that is, written off. [28] You are disqualified from driving for a term of seven years from today.
Rhys Harrison J
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