Tairi v The the Queen

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND CHRISTCHURCH REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA ŌTAUTAHI ROHE

CRI-2022-409-36 [2022] NZHC 809

BETWEEN

ROBERT TAIRI

Appellant

AND

THE QUEEN

Respondent

Hearing:

12 April 2022

Appearances:

P N Allan for Appellant

L Fiennes for Respondent

Judgment:

20 April 2022

JUDGMENT OF EATON J

This judgment was delivered by me on                   at                pursuant to Rule 11.5 of the High Court Rules

Registrar/Deputy Registrar Date:

TAIRI v R [2022] NZHC 809 [20 April 2022]

Introduction

[1]                  Mr Robert Tairi pleaded guilty to one charge of robbery.1 On 3 March 2022 Judge Gilbert sentenced Mr Tairi to 19 months' imprisonment with leave to apply for home detention with release conditions.2

[2]                  Mr Tairi appeals this sentence on the grounds that it was manifestly excessive due to the starting point being too high, an unjustified uplift and insufficient credit for mitigating factors.

Facts

[3]                  On 17 April 2021 Mr Tairi and his partner and co-defendant, Ms Norman, went to the victim’s address. The victim lived there with her three children. They were let inside by the victim’s three-year-old child.

[4]                  Mr Tairi sat down on the couch and Ms Norman asked the victim if she had any gear or cash. After the victim said no, Ms Norman accused her of talking behind her back to other people.

[5]                  The victim asked Mr Tairi and Ms Norman to leave, but they refused. When the victim asked her daughter to get her phone so she could call the police Ms Norman lunged at the victim, grabbed her hair and pulled her to the ground in the living room. She then stomped on the victim’s body, face and back in front of the children.

[6]                  During the assault Mr Tairi was close to the victim’s head and saying, “we just want $250”. The victim said she had no money but offered her car.  Mr Tairi  and  Ms Norman then released the victim to look for her keys. The victim took her three children to the back garden and screamed for help from the neighbours, passing her children over the back fence before fleeing herself.

[7]Mr Tairi and Ms Norman took the victim’s Samsung cell phone and purse.

1      Crimes Act 1961, s 234 and 66; maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

2      R v Tairi [2022] NZDC 3686.

[8]The victim sustained bruising to her body and face.

District Court decision

[9]                  The Judge considered the aggravating features of the  offending as the fact Mr Tairi had remained in the victim’s home after being asked to leave and that the offending, which was largely perpetrated by Ms Norman, involved quite substantial violence carried out in front of the victim’s children.

[10]               By reference to a  two  year ten month  starting point  taken  in sentencing  Ms Norman as the principal offender, the Judge set a starting point of two years’ imprisonment, to reflect the secondary role Mr Tairi played in the offending. An uplift of five per cent was imposed to…