Home invasion sentence a joke, says victim 

Peter and Maggie Bentley. Picture / Alan Gibson

Peter and Maggie Bentley could not believe what they were hearing. The survivors of a brutal home invasion in 2004 had come to the Rotorua District Court to see the man they consider the instigator of the attack get his proper punishment.

Sitting alone amid a sea of supporters of Desmond Mahanga Eru, the Bentleys listened with horror yesterday as he was sentenced to one year and 11 months for a burglary at their rural Te Puke property in August 2004, and for being an accessory after the fact in the home invasion.

Mrs Bentley threw back her head in disbelief as Eru was granted leave to apply for home detention - news which brought applause and cheers from his supporters.

This was not what the couple expected after surviving the attack in which Mr Bentley suffered multiple injuries when he was threatened at gunpoint and savagely beaten with a crowbar and knife, while his wife cowered in bushes outside. "We've got scars of this all over our house, and Peter's face is scarred," Mrs Bentley said afterwards. "He [Eru] carries no scars. He doesn't care. He should be made to care."

Mr Bentley called the sentence a "joke".

Earlier, he told the court of his devastation at the betrayal of trust by Eru, who was working for the couple's cobblestone business.

The 24-year-old had originally denied the charges, changing his plea to guilty on the day his trial was set to begin in March.

Outside the court, the Bentleys told reporters they were appalled by the home-detention decision.

"It was just like a slap in the face, like you don't matter," Mrs Bentley said.

She said she felt angry and terrified at the thought of Eru, who had provided information that led to the home invasion, being allowed out of prison.

Mr Bentley said: "It's not going to protect the employer in any manner or means, or the victim.

"The system is out of whack with people's needs and wants."

Eru admitted telling his cousins, Ronald Dean Hira and Mano James Tamati, that the Bentley home was a good target for burglary, driving them to the property on August 13, 2004.

His cousins, both of whom had extensive criminal records, returned the next day and stole $12,000 worth of property, including two guns. One has not been recovered.

Eru sold some of the stolen property.

As Mr Bentley read his victim impact statement, he stood about 1m from Eru, their eyes meeting angrily as Mr Bentley walked past the dock.

"I felt and still feel totally betrayed and destroyed and hurt when I learned that a previously trusted employee had orchestrated an offence at our home," he said.

He acknowledged Eru was not part of the home invasion. "[But] if he had not introduced his relatives to our property, they would never have returned to inflict the carnage they did."

When he had confronted Eru with his suspicions that he was involved in the burglary, Eru had replied: "I swear on the life of my baby, I know nothing about the burglary."

Said Mr Bentley: "That statement, by Eru, I believe sums up his character." Eru has three children, aged 7, 5 and 8 months.

Mr Bentley told NZPA: "When he [Eru] left the dock he looked us in the eye and drew his thumb across his throat."

Judge Phillip Cooper agreed Eru had betrayed Mr Bentley's trust "in a gross way".

He said Eru's sentence for burglary would have been 18 months rather than 13 months had he not pleaded guilty. He reduced the accessory sentence from 12 months to 10 for the same reason.

The two charges carry maximum penalties of 10 years and five years, respectively.

Eru's lawyer, Mary-Ann McCarty, said her client felt real remorse about the burglary, and later burned clothing and shoes belonging to Tamati, who, like Hopihana (Hobson) Epiha, received nine years in prison for the attack.

Ms McCarty said Eru's actions were the result of a "whanau social influence to crime", saying he felt obligation and fear towards Tamati.

She proposed a sentence less than that for Hira, who was deported from Australia in 2003 for crimes including aggravated robbery.

Eru had only one minor conviction for assault and was not a person "beyond redemption", she said.

Crown prosecutor Amanda Gordon proposed one to two years in prison for the burglary, and 12-18 months for the accessory charge, with mitigation for his late guilty plea.

She said the Crown was neutral on the issue of home detention.

Eru's supporters clapped again and yelled to him as he was led away.

"Love you, Desmond," one shouted.

His victims, however, felt the opposite. "He's scum," said Mrs Bentley.

Mr Bentley said they would push for tougher sentences, and gave Eru a warning: "If he ever came to my property, he'd run the risk of being dealt with in a very unpleasant manner."