Conman loses bid for lighter sentence

A convicted conman, who spent four months on the run wearing a home detention bracelet and stole wallets and credit cards, has lost his bid for a lighter sentence.

In the High Court at Hamilton Justice Priestley dismissed Brian Te Huia's appeal against a jail sentence of four years and nine months for nine charges of burglary, four of fraud and one of theft, all committed while on the run.

The written decision was released yesterday following a hearing last week.

Justice Priestley upheld Judge Neil MacLean's sentence and found he was correct in imposing a minimum non-parole period of 2-1/2 years.

Te Huia, 34, has more than 300 convictions, mostly for dishonesty and burglary.

He was convicted in Christchurch in June last year on 99 charges of fraudulently using bank cards and 10 charges of stealing wallets and handbags. In February he was released on home detention to a Christchurch residential rehabilitation centre.

Within a month he had gone. He spent the next four months avoiding police until his arrest on the Kapiti Coast in June.

When captured, he was still wearing the home detention bracelet.

Te Huia was caught on video surveillance cameras using a stolen credit card in central Masterton. Within half an hour of stealing the credit card from an 83-year-old pensioner, Te Huia had withdrawn $2000.

Detective Sergeant Robin Rackliff described Te Huia as a "leech who must be stopped".

"This is a man who does not care who his victims are."

Home detention detainees who tamper with their electronic bracelet trigger an alarm, alerting a security company.

The company then rings the prisoner's home address and if no one answers a security guard is sent to look for the prisoner.

Christchurch's community probation acting area manager, Nick Scott, defended his department's actions when Te Huia left his address, saying the case had been "appropriately managed" and immediate action was taken as soon as Te Huia absconded.

Mr Scott said a warrant was issued by the Parole Board and it was then the responsibility of police to arrest Te Huia.

- NZPA