During this period, he also used a stolen payWave card multiple times at the Otāngarei Superette racking up various purchases.
On December 31, 2022, Rapira-Leaf contacted a person on Facebook Marketplace about purchasing an iPhone and was given an address to view the phone.
Rapira-Leaf turned up at the address and the victim attempted to negotiate the sale of the phone for $1000 to which Rapira-Leaf responded “No money” and took the phone.
As he left with the phone, the victim attempted to get the phone back and was pushed by Rapira-Leaf.
On February 11 this year Rapira-Leaf was on Ruakākā Beach, in the same ute used to steal petrol, doing doughnuts in the sand.
A member of the public approached Rapira-Leaf to tell him to stop doing doughnuts to which Rapira said he would “blast” them away.
He pulled out a fake rifle, enticing the victim to “come on” while posturing for a fight. Rapira-Leaf would later be pulled over and arrested.
Judge Greg Davis said Rapira-Leaf had no criminal history and it was a shame he was now before the courts on so many charges.
Because Rapira-Leaf had been in custody for four months, Judge Davis and the police prosecution agreed a rehabilitative sentence was appropriate.
Rapira-Leaf was sentenced to 18 months of intensive supervision and ordered to pay the victims of the phone and debit cards reparation.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/Ngātiwai/Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked freelance in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
