The man set fire to a rubbish bin before fleeing the scene to call Fenz and later returning to film the firefighters in action. Photo / Bevan Conley
The man set fire to a rubbish bin before fleeing the scene to call Fenz and later returning to film the firefighters in action. Photo / Bevan Conley
A young man made three false calls to emergency services within a week and even started lighting his own fires, rushing back to his crime scene to film the firefighters in action after he raised the alarm.
Caleb Pope, 21, was sentenced on a lengthy list of charges relating to arson and burglary at the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday.
According to the summary of facts Pope called Fenz four times between March and June last year, falsely claiming he could see smoke coming from a petrol station, hardware store and bar - all in Lincoln. He also told Fenz that a vehicle was in the Waimakariri River.
Fenz attended each call but could not find any smoke or vehicle in the river and classified them as false calls.
On March 28 last year Pope started a small vegetation fire on the side of Rolleston Rd then called Fenz who attended and put it out. He did this again on May 27 on Days Rd.
A week later Pope drove, while forbidden from driving, to a Repco store in Hornby at 8.30pm. He approached a medium-sized rubbish skip and using a lighter, set several bits of paper on fire before throwing them in the skip.
The fire engulfed the rubbish inside the skip, causing severe damage to the bin.
Pope fled the scene, called Fenz and then returned when the firefighters arrived to film them in action.
When questioned by police Pope said he was burning his court paperwork.
Assistant District Commander Steve Kennedy said Fenz has worked collaboratively with police in relation to several incidents involving Pope.
“False or malicious 111 calls go through the same process as all 111 calls which means that they end up taking up valuable time of not only our 111 Fire Communication Centre staff but also the crews that respond to the calls.”
Kennedy said if crews were responding to false calls that would mean they are generally unavailable for any genuine calls that may come in.
Pope also faced burglary charges involving stealing from his elderly neighbour who was in hospital.
Between May 25 and June 25 last year, Pope and an associate, who knew the neighbour was in hospital, broke into the elderly man’s shed.
They stole a barbecue heavy-duty vice, table, bench seat, compressor and vintage engine.
Everything was sold on Facebook marketplace to unknown people, except for the heavy-duty vice which was recovered during a search of Pope’s house.
Between June 17 to 20 last year, Pope and the same associate broke into a construction site in Wigram.
Pope had a set of master keys and used them to unlock a digger for his associate to climb in and begin digging holes in the ground.
The pair then stole two heavy-duty digger ramps, hard hats and strops from the construction site before advertising them on Facebook marketplace.
Pope and his associate also broke into a Christchurch City Council-owned sports building in Wigram, stealing a football launcher. This was later recovered at Pope’s address.
Between October 2021 and January 2022 Pope was employed by a construction and engineering firm but only worked a total of nine days before quitting.
After termination of employment, all employees are to cease use of company accounts but on four separate occasions, Pope used the account to purchase builder’s tools. He spent a total of $2,702 at Bunnings Warehouse in Shirley and Mitre10 in Papanui.
On July 6 last year Pope was working for a different construction company through a temping agency.
Between 4-8pm, he drove to a construction site in Lincoln where he had been working and cut and ripped out copper cables from the ground. He also stole a hydrant stand, tools and a strop.
That same night Pope was stopped by police driving a large tanker truck from the construction company during a time he was forbidden from driving. He also admitted to police that he didn’t have permission from his employers to drive the truck.
The young man was given a 15-month sentence which could be served as one of home detention if he found a suitable address. Photo / George Heard
Pope was given a sentence of 15 months which could be served as home detention if he could find a suitable address, Judge Quentin Hix told him.
Pope’s lawyer Sabrina Forrester said her client had a challenging upbringing with family members being in and out of prison which was normalised in his youth.
She said violence, mental health concerns and a mistrust of police had significantly shaped Pope’s perspective and could be connected to his offending.
Forrester told the judge Pope was a vulnerable young man who had already been assaulted in prison and now understands the consequences of his actions.
Judge Hix gave Pope discounts for his youth, remorse, challenging upbringing and mental health issues.
