Christmas behind bars: Family of jailed Kaikōura cafe owner ‘in shock’ after ‘crazy’ prison sentence over council compliance

A Kaikōura cafe owner jailed for two months for selling food without adequate council registration is languishing in the local police cells awaiting a transfer to prison - where the first-time offender will spend Christmas without her family.

Her family say she is still in shock, upset and tearful over the sentence which they have described as “crazy” and “an absolute waste of taxpayer dollars”.

On Friday Bean Me Up cafe owner Sharon Rayner was sentenced in the Kaikoura District Court to two months in prison for knowingly selling non-complying food and failing to comply with a notice of direction under the Food Act 2014.

The two charges, under the Food Act 2014, were brought by the Kaikōura District Council.

The maximum penalty for the charges is two years imprisonment and a $100,000 fine.

Kaikōura District Council CEO Will Doughty said it was “regrettable” that the council had “no other option but to prosecute” Rayner.

“The Court’s ruling is sadly the inevitable conclusion of a year-long process in which Ms Rayner has been provided with numerous opportunities by Kaikōura District Council to comply with the Food Act, as all other food sellers do, and avoid prosecution – opportunities which she chose not to take,” he said in a statement posted to Facebook on Sunday.

Doughty said Rayner had “previously complied with food safety regulations”.

However, in 2021 she requested that her valid food registration be withdrawn.

“She then continued to sell food to the public without food registration measures in place at her cafe Bean Me Up, and has continued to do so right until the day of sentencing,” said Doughty.

“For Kaikōura District Council not to seek prosecution of a food operator who has been given every opportunity to comply with the Food Act by Council and the Court would have been a dereliction of Council’s duties to the public under the safety provisions of the Food Act.

“It would also have been unfair to other businesses who meet their food safety requirements under the Food Act – indeed many in the same street.”

Sharon Rayner owner of Bean Me Up cafe in Kaikōura. Photo / Supplied

Rayner and her family acknowledge she did not legally comply with the Food Act but maintain that both her business and the produce served complied with the rules.

She simply did not want to register anything with the council.

Rayner’s daughter Holly Timms told the Herald her mother was still being held in the police cells at Blenheim, waiting to be transferred to Christchurch Women’s Prison.

She had been able to spend time with her there and has also spoken to her on the phone.

“She’s doing okay given the circumstances, but she’s in shock, she’s in disbelief,” Timms said.

“She wasn’t prepared for jail, we thought maybe she would get home detention but that was never discussed.”

Timms said her mother was distrusting of authorities and refused a court-appointed lawyer and government-funded Legal Aid.

“This is her first offence, she’s never even had a speeding ticket - she’s 55 years old and the first port of call was to send her to prison?” Timms said.

“What the hell has just happened?

“At the moment she’s just going through the motions, she’s a bit upset, she’s been crying... her dog misses her, my grandma is beside herself and told me ‘I’m going to die from this’.”

Timms said for her and the wider family it had been a “very emotionally draining time”.

While there was a lot of support for Rayner in her community and across New Zealand, there was also a lot of hate being directed at the family.

“I’ve had random idiots message me on Facebook and say ‘I hope your mum dies in there’ and ‘I’m glad she got jail time, she’s a piece of sh*t’,” Timms said.

“It’s just crazy.”

Timms accepted there had to be a consequence in her mother’s case but said prison was “ridiculous”.

“I look at the case of Jayden Meyer in Tauranga and he didn’t even get any jail time for rape,’ she said.

“It’s pretty shocking... it’s a complete overreach.”

Earlier this year Meyer was sentenced to nine months’ home detention for the rape of four 15-year-old girls and the sexual violation of another.

He was 16 at the time of the offending.

“So why are they doing this to mum? There’s just no empathy, no compassion,” Timms said.

Timms hoped that she would be able to spend time with her mother at the prison on Christmas Day.

But the holiday season had been ruined by the sentence.

“I don’t even want to put the Christmas tree up, it doesn’t feel very festive or worth celebrating,” she said.

She said her mother still did not want a lawyer so it appeared she would serve the time and then return to Kaikoura to try and restart her life.

“At the moment she hasn’t thought about what she’s going to do, there’s no master plan yet - it’s really just taking each day as it comes and riding out the sentence,” Timms said.

“It’s just unbelievable - she’s done no harm to anyone, there has never been a complaint to the council about her, there’s been not one case of sickness related to her cafe since she started it in 2012, she’s been in hospo for 40-plus years and they’ve just thrown her in jail?

“It’s just awful.”