Gloriavale runaway admits golf course burnouts

Barnabas Ben-Canaan talked to Campbell Live in April about leaving the Gloriavale religious sect. Photo: Campbell Live / TV3

A teenager who fled from Gloriavale has pleaded guilty to causing damage to a Temuka golf club after doing "burn-outs" on the fairway.

Barnabas Ben-Canaan, 18, was fined $1000 and ordered to pay $1608 to repair the damage he caused to Temuka Golf Club on May 17 after tearing up the fairways and damaging sprinklers, courtnews.co.nz reported.

He was also disqualified for driving for six months.

Ben-Canaan told Campbell Live in April that when he was 16 years old he was dropped on the side of the road in South Westland with no belongings or help.

"I pretty much cried the whole night because I was really scared," he said.

"I'd only just turned 16 and I didn't know where I was or what was going on."

He told the current affairs program not being allowed to contact his family, who are still at the community, was "really hard".

Ben-Canaan said he left Gloriavale because he was "sick of all the control" and wanted some freedom.

He was working on a farm near Christchurch at the time of the interview.