Shoplifter with ‘fair bit of history’ back in court

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A recidivist shoplifter who successfully appealed a jail sentence when it was imposed on her four years ago continues to offend.

Ereti Lara Hinaki, 32, pleaded guilty in Gisborne District Court on Monday to three thefts from shops involving goods valued under $500.

Counsel Audrey Aitcheson said Hinaki accepted her criminal history included numerous convictions for thefts from shops but her record showed she was trending away from this type of offending. Her most recent previous court appearance was in 2021.

Judge Turitea Bolstad declined to deal with Hinaki immediately. She further remanded her on bail for sentence on June 30 and called for a pre-sentence report.

Hinaki had a “fair bit of history for this type of offending” and the court wanted to ensure she didn’t come back before it again, so information about her background was necessary, the judge said.

The report was to include information as to the suitability of electronically-monitored sentence options.

In June 2019, Hinaki — a mother of three — was jailed by Judge Warren Cathcart for six months after she pleaded guilty to the theft of a statue (valued at about $520) from a home décor shop and lesser offences, including seven thefts from other shops (involving goods under $500).

Some of the offending was while she was on bail and failing to comply with a community work sentence imposed for similar shoplifting offences two months earlier.

The lead charge (involving the statue) carried a maximum penalty of up to a year’s imprisonment.

Imposing the jail term, Judge Cathcart said he was concerned that shoplifting was “epidemic” in Gisborne with “offenders coming and going without any real deterrence offered by the courts”.

“Soft sentences were not appropriate” and it was time to send a deterrent message to Hinaki and other shoplifters, the judge said.

“I consider the least restrictive outcome is imprisonment and I don’t consider home detention is an appropriate response. No sentence apart from a term of imprisonment satisfies all requirements of the Sentencing Act,” the judge said.

The judge’s decision to jail Hinaki caught counsel Elliot Lynch off guard. Mr Lynch had urged the court to adopt a sentence of community detention coupled with community work, as recommended by the Department of Corrections.

He appealed to the High Court, which found the sentence imposed by Judge Cathcart was excessive. It reduced the term to four-and- a-half months but also converted the remainder to nine weeks home detention

By that stage, Hinaki had served five-and-a-half weeks in custody — the equivalent of an 11-week prison term.

As part of the newly-imposed home detention sentence, she was required to undergo assessment and counselling for drugs and other issues, and to do a driving programme.