'Foolish' teenager sent to prison

Having to send a 16-year-old boy to prison was always sad, but there was no other option, Judge Stephen O'Driscoll told a young offender in the Oamaru District Court yesterday.

Jamie Brian Fitzgerald was sentenced to 3 1/2 years' jail for aggravated burglary after the charge was transferred from the Youth Court.

Judge O'Driscoll said Fitzgerald was "out of control" and must be held accountable for his actions.

On May 5, Fitzgerald and an associate had left home, where they had been drinking, about 4.30am.

They walked to the complainant's home and knocked on the door of his sleepout. He would not let them in so they kicked in the door.

The associate went inside and while Fitzgerald waited at the door, the associate laid into the complainant, punching him in the head and chest.

Fitzgerald picked up a drain grate, threw it into the building and then entered.

Fitzgerald's associate also hit the complainant on the head with a beer glass. The pair then ran home.

Prosecutor Craig O'Connor said imprisonment was appropriate given the serious nature of the offence, Fitzgerald's previous offending and "bleak" social worker and pre-sentencing reports.

Fitzgerald's counsel, Ngaire Alexander, said prison was unlikely to rehabilitate him.

Judge O'Driscoll said that between last August and December, Fitzgerald had incurred 34 convictions.

- NZPA