Tepania v Police - [2025] NZHC 2282

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA TĀMAKI MAKAURAU ROHE

CRI-2025-404-299

CRI-2025-404-300 [2025] NZHC 2282

BETWEEN
ROBERT TEPANIA

Appellant

AND

NEW ZEALAND POLICE

Respondent

Hearing: 11 August 2025

Appearances:

K Ilango (on behalf of A Williams) for Appellant S K Jocelyn for Respondent

Judgment:

12 August 2025

JUDGMENT OF LANG J

[on appeal against sentence]

This judgment was delivered by Justice Lang On 12 August 2025 at 3.00 pm
Registrar/Deputy Registrar Date:…………………………

Solicitors/counsel:
A W Law, Manukau
Kayes Fletcher Walker, Manukau

TEPANIA v POLICE [2025] NZHC 2282 [12 August 2025]

[1] Mr Tepania pleaded guilty in the District Court at Papakura to two charges of burglary and one charge of breaching a sentence of community work.
On 30 May 2025, Judge G T Winter sentenced him to 25 months imprisonment.1

[2] Mr Tepania appeals against sentence. He contends the Judge selected a starting point that was too high on one of the burglary charges. He also says the Judge failed to provide him with an adequate discount in relation to mitigating factors.

The offending

[3] The first burglary charge related to the burglary of a residential address on the evening of 31 December 2024. The occupants had left the address at approximately 3.00 pm that day to celebrate New Year’s Eve elsewhere. They returned at midday the following day to find that their house had been “rough searched”, or ransacked. A portable speaker and a television set had been stolen. These cost approximately $1,100 to replace.

[4] A baseball cap was found outside the lounge window of the address. DNA extracted from the cap was found to match Mr Tepania’s DNA profile.

[5] The second burglary charge related to the burglary of a recycling plant on 25 February 2025. Mr Tepania and an associate were seen on CCTV to enter the property through a gap in a boundary fence. They picked up a copper aluminium belt and placed this near an exit. Mr Tepania was identified a short time later at a service station, where he was arrested.

[6] The charge of breaching the sentence of community work was laid after Mr Tepania failed to carry out a sentence of community work imposed for breaching a sentence of home detention on five occasions in April 2024. The sentence of home detention had been imposed on 22 February 2024.

1 Police v Tepania [2025] NZDC 12809.

The sentence

[7] The Judge selected a starting point of 20 months imprisonment on the first burglary charge.2 He added an uplift of six months to reflect the second burglary charge3 and a further uplift of two months to reflect the charge of breaching the sentence of community work.4 This resulted in a sentence of 28 months imprisonment.

[8] The Judge then applied a discount of six months, or 20 per cent, to reflect guilty pleas.5 Finally, he added an uplift of three months to reflect the fact that Mr Tepania had 13 previous convictions for burglary…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Keep reading for free

Create a free CaseChat account to read Tepania v Police and more:

Read every judgment in full
Ask AI and get answers linked to paragraphs
See how each paragraph was cited in later cases
Download judgments as PDF or Word

Continue with Google

One click creates your free account or signs you in.

By continuing you agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy.

Details

Case: [2025] NZHC 2282
Decision Date: 12 August 2025

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The High Court of New Zealand, Auckland Registry, heard an appeal from Robert Tepania against his sentence. Tepania had pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one count of breaching a community work sentence. He was sentenced to 25 months imprisonment by Judge G T Winter. Tepania contested the sentence on the grounds that the starting point for one of the burglary charges was too high and that the judge did not sufficiently discount the sentence for mitigating factors. The key legal issues revolved around whether the starting point for the first burglary charge was appropriate, whether the judge should have applied a discount for Tepania's remorse, and if the judge should have considered other rehabilitative options. The court examined the starting point selected by the judge and found it to be within the range approved by the Court of Appeal. The court also concluded that the judge was entitled to be sceptical of Tepania's expressions of remorse given his extensive criminal history. Lastly, the court found that no rehabilitative options could be considered as the sentence was custodial. In light of these findings, the appeal against sentence was dismissed.

Orders