A recidivist Hawke's Bay car thief was sentenced to two years' jail for his latest unlawful taking of cars earlier this year.
Jaden Antony Sean Conroy, 22, of Napier, had previously pleaded guilty to three charges, along with one of obtaining by deception, two of assaulting a female, two of breaching a protection order, and four of breaching conditions of release from prison.
In Napier District Court on Tuesday, Judge Bridget Mackintosh noted Conroy's extensive list of convictions including five previously for unlawfully taking cars.
"Now you're back in court in rather spectacular form," she said, outlining the latest offences that started with the taking of a vehicle from a firm at Stortford Lodge in Hastings on February 2, and continued with the taking of a vehicle from a hospital carpark in Hamilton at the end of March, and in April when he took a vehicle from a campus in Palmerston North.
The latest belonged to an apprentice carpenter who had lost more than $2000 worth of tools in the theft, while all three vehicles taken were damaged, to the extent that about $12,000 was sought in reparation. The judge ordered him to pay half.