Craig Mckelvie had a price on his head when he assaulted his elderly victim. Photo / File
Craig Mckelvie had a price on his head when he assaulted his elderly victim. Photo / File
A 51-year-old "career criminal" has been sentenced for assaulting an elderly man who had taken out a $10,000 hit on his head.
Craig Mckelvie was sentenced to three months' home detention when he appeared in the Wellington District Court on Wednesday, on charges of demanding with menace and assault with intent to injure after drenching his victim in petrol and assaulting him with a hammer.
In a victim impact statement submitted to the court, the victim alleged Mckelvie owed him $30,000.
The court heard that the victim conspired to cause grievous bodily harm to Mckelvie and admitted to putting a hit out on him to the tune of $10,000.
Judge Bruce Davidson said the victim enlisted the help of a third party to assault or seriously hurt Mckelvie, but the hit was not carried out.
On the evening of May 3, 2021, Mckelvie and an associate went to the address where the elderly victim was visiting.
Throwing petrol on the man, Mckelvie described the threatening act as impulsive. Judge Davidson said that although it could have been impulsive, the threat of throwing petrol on a victim was quite extraordinary.
The pair then assaulted the victim, punching and slapping him in the face and striking him with a hammer.
According to Judge Davidson, Mckelvie's associate acted more violently through the duration of the assault including hitting the victim with a wheel brace and burning the man by throwing scalding hot water at him.
The co-defendant rifled through the victims' belongings, demanded bank details to access the victim's online banking and stole his credit card from his car.
Mckelvie's victim suffered significant injuries including burns to the stomach, neck and forearm as well as bruising from the physical attack.
The court heard that Mckelvie denied involvement in a number of acts outlined in the summary of facts, including the throwing of the scalding hot water, the striking of the man with a wheel brace and the theft of the credit card.
Aggravating features of Mckelvie's crimes were noted as premeditation, vigilantism, use of a hammer and an attack to the head of the victim.
Defence lawyer Paul Paino said the offending spurred from a "pretty murky set of circumstances".
Advocating for his client to receive a sentence of home detention, Paino said Mckelvie had already spent seven months behind bars awaiting sentencing.
Paino also stated his client had significant motivation to be clean of methamphetamine and help support his parents who had been by his side throughout the entire process.
Judge Davidson reflected on the pre-sentence and cultural reports submitted to the courts, outlining the origin of Mckelvie's life of crime having started as a teen when he stole his dad's car.
Judge Bruce Davidson sentenced Mckelvie to three months home detention. Photo / File
He was subsequently sent to a boy's home where he suffered abuse at the hands of those in charge.
"This set you on a life path of drugs, violence and gangs," Judge Davidson said.
Mckelvie's criminal history spans from the mid 1980's right up to 2021. The court heard he had committed various serious crimes including a conviction of attempted murder.
Judge Davidson described Mckelvie as a career criminal, and said the cultural report provided to the court showed there was a clear nexus between the abuse he faced in state care and his life of drugs, crime, gangs and violence.
Judge Davidson described Mckelvie's offending as a premeditative, pre-retributive pay-back, and was a serious example of the murky, disquieting features of the criminal underworld.
"But at its heart it was another example of you engaging in stand over threats and violence."
