Anare Vuli Cilicewa, photographed at an earlier court appearance, was sentenced in the Wellington District Court. Photo / Hazel Osborne
Anare Vuli Cilicewa, photographed at an earlier court appearance, was sentenced in the Wellington District Court. Photo / Hazel Osborne
A cocaine dealer knocked himself out briefly when he leapt eight feet from the motorway and onto train tracks below in an attempt to flee police custody.
Moments before the leap of faith, Anare Cilicewa abandoned his injured female passenger in the car he’d just crashed after leading police on a wild chase in downtown Wellington.
The 30-year-old was sentenced today in the Wellington District Court on a raft of charges relating to the incident, possessing cocaine and cannabis for supply, as well as unrelated family harm.
Judge Katie Elkin sentenced Cilicewa to 16-and-a-half months imprisonment, however, his time on remand means he has just a few weeks left behind bars. He was also disqualified from driving for two years.
On Thursday, June 2, 2022, Cilicewa was stopped by police in Karaka, Auckland and forbidden to drive until he obtained a driver’s license.
It was nearly a year later when police spotted him driving “abnormally” along Customhouse Quay in Wellington, unable to keep to one lane in April 2023.
Police signalled for him stop – he instead rapidly accelerated, fleeing police and driving onto State Highway 1. The chase came to an end when Cilicewa collided with the rear end of a heavy truck so forcefully it was shunted forward.
Cilicewa’s vehicle was extensively damaged in the collision and when it couldn’t be driven away from the scene he headed off on foot in his efforts to evade police, leaving behind his injured passenger.
With only the road ahead of him, Cilicewa jumped from the edge of the highway, falling eight feet and knocking himself unconscious. He woke moments later, continuing the chase across the train tracks and up a bank of vegetation where he was eventually arrested.
When Cilicewa was arrested police searched his bag and wrecked car. They found nine rounds of .22 ammunition, a 12-gauge shot-gun slug and a sawn-off shot gun in the boot.
They also found other items including point bags containing a white “unknown substance”, scales and a large amount of empty point bags consistent with supplying drugs.
He also was charged with possessing 2.44 grams of cocaine for supply, and 67.51 grams of cannabis for supply.
The female passenger involved in the chase is facing separate charges in relation to the incident.
Cilicewa was also sentenced for an incident in February last year when he smashed up windows, used a brick to damage a car, and assaulted his partner making threats he was going to get a gun and shoot her.
He was sentenced today in the Wellington District Court. Photo / File
His lawyer Gary Turkington advocated earlier this year for a community-based sentence, however the hearing was adjourned when a resolution could not be met.
Today Turkington continued to submit an end point of home detention for his client who he said had overcome challenges while remanded in custody.
“He’s had a good taste of the inside and he knows what’s what,” Turkington said.
Prosecutor Karuna Thawani said police stood by their submissions - Cilicewa should serve a term of imprisonment for his offending.
Judge Elkin acknowledged the impacts Cilicewa’s offending had on his victims, particularly the mother of his two children, whom he threatened to kill last year.
“People are entitled to feel safe in their homes,” Judge Elkin said.
She accepted his issues with methamphetamine and alcohol impacted his offending, and said Cilicewa had re-found faith and was committed to rehabilitation while spending over a year remanded in custody.
Cilicewa was sentencing comes with six months release conditions and a two-year disqualification from driving.
Due to the length of time spent in custody, Judge Elkin said she believed Cilicewa had just a few weeks left until he had served his time behind bars.
Hazel Osborne is an Open Justice reporter for NZME and is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington. She joined the Open Justice team at the beginning of 2022, previously working in Whakatāne as a court and crime reporter in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
