False identities used to get power

A man who used two aliases to set up electricity accounts for his home after his power was cut off has been sentenced to 100 hours' community work .

Logan Clifford Hearfield, 33, of Maketu, near Te Puke, was convicted in Tauranga District Court on a charge of obtaining credit by deception for the offending, which began in early 2001.

The court was told Hearfield registered for electricity to be supplied to his home through TrustPower on March 23, but it was disconnected on April 18 because he had not paid his bill.

On February 3, 2003, Hearfield again called TrustPower to register the same property for power -- but this time he used the false name of Stephen Mills.

He told the company that he had only recently moved into the home, so TrustPower reconnected the power. However, the power had to be disconnected on July 21 as the bills had again not been paid.

On March 11 last year, Hearfield used another false name, this time James Barry Saunders, and again told the company he was a new resident at the address.

The power was cut off on May 11 after the bill yet again went unpaid. In total, Hearfield clocked up $1269.74 in unpaid bills to TrustPower.

Along with the community service, Judge Thomas Ingram ordered Hearfield to pay back the debt to TrustPower at a rate of $100 a week, starting on June 1.

- NZPA