The Court of Appeal has reduced Alexander Steeve Yelengwe Yonkwa-Dingom's prison term by four years.
Photo / NZME
The Court of Appeal has reduced Alexander Steeve Yelengwe Yonkwa-Dingom's prison term by four years.
Photo / NZME
Cultural dislocation and challenges as a foreign national serving a lengthy sentence has persuaded a court to slash a French national's prison term on cocaine charges.
In September 2019, Alexander Steeve Yelengwe Yonkwa-Dingom was sentenced by the High Court at Whangārei to 15 years in jail after he admitted helping smuggle cocaine from a cruise ship into Northland.
He was paid $50,000 which was meant to help his jailed brother and estranged sister who had two young children and needed accommodation after separating from her partner in France.
The 30-year-old was part of a syndicate involved in smuggling cocaine from South America to Australia using cruise ship passengers as drug couriers.
He was arrested after police seized a backpack containing cocaine, with an estimated street value of between $6.8 million and $10.8m, at the Youth Hostel Association premises in Paihia in December 2017.
Yonkwa-Dingom appealed his sentence and the Court of Appeal received a report that detailed his personal, family and cultural background that may have been related to him committing the offences.
The author of the report drew a connection between his offending and cultural dislocation and vulnerability.
Cameroon-born Yonkwa-Dingom lost his parents and was sent to live with relatives in France, where he grew up in an environment where drugs were rife, the report said.
The court said he felt compelled to join the drug syndicate to provide financial support for his siblings.
Nine months was taken off his sentence to reflect the cultural dislocation Yonkwa-Dingom experienced when he was taken from Cameroon to France.
"We appreciate that his upbringing in France probably contributed in a significant way to his subsequent criminal offending," the Court of Appeal judges said.
A further three months was slashed to reflect the challenges he will face as a foreign national serving a long sentence in a New Zealand prison.
Cocaine seized from a backpack belonging to Frenchman Alexander Steeve Yelengwe Yonkwa-Dingom in Paihia.
Photo / Tania Whyte
Applying discounts for other factors, the court arrived at an end sentence of 11 years and reduced the minimum period of imprisonment by two years to five years and six months.
During his sentencing in the High Court, Yonkwa-Dingom pleaded with the sentencing judge to be allowed to serve his sentence in France as he didn't have any family support in New Zealand.
But Justice Graham Lang said since Yonkwa-Dingom lived a sophisticated lifestyle and spoke reasonable English, serving his sentence in New Zealand would not be an isolating experience.
Yonkwa-Dingom was arrested in Kerikeri and police found a number of items including a cellphone, an iPod, a laptop, room keys, and newly bought backpacks. He refused to provide police with the passcodes to access the "Silent Phone".
Justice Lang said Yonkwa-Dingom was clearly more than a courier or a "catcher" of the cocaine after its arrival in New Zealand.
