Sale v Police

ORDER PROHIBITING PUBLICATION OF NAME(S), ADDRESS(ES), OCCUPATION(S) OR IDENTIFYING PARTICULARS OF VICTIM PURSUANT TO S 202 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 2011.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND ROTORUA REGISTRY

CRI-2014-463-000027

CRI-2014-463-000028 [2014] NZHC 1933

BETWEEN

AMANDA WAITANGI SALE

PISILA MARTIN Appellants

AND

NEW ZEALAND POLICE Respondent

Hearing:	14 August 2014
Appearances:	W Lawson for Ms Sale A Schulze for Ms Martin A Hill for the Respondent
Judgment:	15 August 2014

JUDGMENT OF ELLIS J

This judgment was delivered by me on Friday 15 August 2014 at 4.30 pm pursuant to Rule 11.5 of the High Court Rules.

Registrar/Deputy Registrar

Date:………………………….

Counsel/Solicitors:

W Lawson, Barrister, Rotorua
A Schulze, Barrister, Rotorua

A Hill, Gordon Pilditch, Rotorua

SALE & MARTIN v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2014] NZHC 1933 [15 August 2014]

[1]      Pisila  Martin  and  Amanda  Sale  are  sisters.    They  both  appeal  against sentences of two years imprisonment imposed upon them by Judge Gittos on 5 June

2014 after each had pleaded guilty to two charges of blackmail.1

[2]      The name of the victim (V) and his identifying particulars are suppressed.

Facts

[3]      On 12 February 2014 Ms Martin and Ms Sale entered V’s convenience store. Ms Sale flirted with V.  Ms Martin left the store and waited outside. Ms Sale and V exchanged phone numbers and arranged to meet two days later. When they did so, they engaged in sexual activity.

[4]      As V was driving Ms Sale home, she told him she was 17 and that when she was younger she had been raped by her stepfather.  She began to abuse V verbally and repeatedly told him that she would “take him down” by “creating a scene” and telling “everyone what [he does] to girls”, before demanding that he give her $2,000. V then withdrew $700 from a money machine and gave it to her.   Ms Sale then instructed him to withdraw another $1,000, putting him into overdraft.

[5]      On 20 February V received a phone call from a woman claiming to be Ms Sale’s mother who told him that he “did wrong”.  In fact, the caller was Ms Sale’s sister, Ms Martin.   She also threatened to “take him down” and told him that she knew what school his children attended, and threatened to tell a staff member at that school.  Ms Martin also told V that the Mongrel Mob would come and “sort him out” and “get him”.

[6]      The next day Ms Martin went again to V’s store.  V handed over $1,500 and a bottle of alcohol.  Ms Martin told him that she would not bother him again.  But two days later, on 23 February, he received another phone call from her.  Ms Martin told him she needed money to fix her car and that she could come down and “sort him

out”. V heard a male voice in the background repeating the threat.

1      Crimes Act 1961, s 237. The maximum penalty for blackmail is 14 years’ imprisonment: s 238.

[7]      Later that day Ms Sale also visited the…