A motorist captured part of the pursuit of a stolen Porsche 911 along the Waikato Expressway in April 2023, the conclusion of a night of crime for which two 501s have now been jailed. Video / Supplied
Ronald Neilson has been sentenced to more than two years’ jail after stealing a Porsche and Land Rover from a Parnell, Auckland home in April 2023.
The 2021 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S was valued at $249,000 and the Land Rover Discovery at $50,000.
Neilson and fellow 501 Sifa Tevita – kicked out of Australia for a murder-for-hire plot – were eventually caught after a 1.5 hour, 100km police pursuit captured on camera by shocked motorists.
A 501 has been jailed after a brazen night-time raid on a swanky Auckland townhouse that ended with police chasing a stolen $249,000 Porsche in a dramatic wrong-way pursuit south of the city.
The 1.5 hour, 100km pursuit involved up to 20 police vehicles, saw the luxury car almost hit an ambulance, and included periods where it was being driven the wrong way on the Waikato Expressway, with shocked motorists' footage showing the 2021 model Porsche 911 Carrera 4S driving along a grass verge before armed police captured those involved.
Ronald Neilson was in the front passenger seat as co-offender and fellow 501 deportee Sifa Tevita – booted out of Australia after cutting the throat of a wheelchair-bound man in a murder-for-hire plot – drove the Porsche, which by the end of the incident had lost its tyres.
Sifa, who got out of the vehicle and relieved himself in front of police before being arrested, was sentenced to two years and seven months in jail in November for a swathe of driving and dishonesty offences relating to the April 2023 incident, and more that occurred subsequently while he was on electronically monitored bail.
On Thursday, Neilson learned his fate before Judge Kirsten Lummis in the Auckland District Court.
She sentenced the 33-year-old to two years and three months in jail for a dozen crimes committed over more than a year, including two of burglary and two of using or attempting to use a bank card as a result of the Parnell incident.
While Neilson wasn’t in the driver’s seat of the Porsche, he’d used a $50,000 Land Rover Discovery stolen from the same Parnell property to crash through a security gate, after which Sifa drove out in the Porsche, the court heard.
Ronald Neilson pictured at his Auckland District Court sentencing for a series of crimes, including his part in stealing a Porsche and Land Rover from a Parnell, Auckland home, and a subsequent police pursuit on the Waikato Expressway, in April 2023. Photo / Dean Purcell
The hours-long crime spree began about 2am when Neilson and “an unknown number of accomplices” climbed a fence and then used a ladder to get into the home’s upstairs office as the occupants slept, Judge Lummis said.
After taking an American Express bank card and using it twice – once unsuccessfully – spending $52 at a petrol station, Neilson and others returned to the Parnell home about 4am and took keys for the Porsche and Land Rover.
“You drove [the Land Rover] at the security gate, smashing it from its hinges.”
Almost six hours later, Neilson was arrested in the passenger seat of the Porsche after the police pursuit, she said.
Up to 20 police cars were involved in a 100km pursuit of the stolen Porsche in 2023, after which Ronald Neilson and Sifa Tevita were arrested on the Waikato Expressway. Photo / Ashlee Garrett
The 501’s offending was serious because it’d targeted a home where people were sleeping, was “clearly pre-meditated”, and high-value vehicles were stolen.
It was “really concerning” the victim was too afraid to do a victim impact statement, Judge Lummis said.
“It tells me they are still really scared of what people out there are capable of doing. I have no doubt that what happened will continue to play on their mind for years to come.”
Judge Lummis also sentenced Neilson for eight other crimes committed following the Parnell incident, when he was on bail before being remanded in custody after his most recent offending in August last year.
Two prison sentences of five months, to be served concurrently with his jail sentence of two years and three months, and a year-long driving disqualification were imposed for the crimes – dangerous driving, failing to remain stopped for police, refusing to give blood, unlawfully taking a vehicle, possession of methamphetamine, breach of bail and two of receiving.
Because Neilson had been in custody since August 24 he could be eligible for parole in May, when he’ll have served a third of his sentence.
Sifa Tevita, who was Neilson's co-offender and fellow 501 deportee, pictured during his sentencing in November last year. Photo / Dean Purcell
The pre-sentence report showed there’d been “something of a turnaround” while Neilson was in custody, Judge Lummis said.
“You’ve said it’s something of a blessing in disguise, giving you that opportunity to reflect … and really get off all the substances and drugs that have been causing you so much trouble in recent years.”
Neilson was working with addiction services to make a plan for staying off methamphetamine once he left prison, because “you recognise that is where the fall comes”.
He’d also shown responsibility by taking on a cleaning role in jail, among rehabilitative factors that earned him earlier discounts in jail time along with his guilty plea, remorse and the impact of being deported from Australia, she said.
“It’ll be up to you as to how you continue to behave while you’re in prison, and the work you continue to do yourself as to whether or not you’re able to get parole at that first opportunity.
“But I’d encourage you to … continue to do what you can do to make sure we don’t meet again.”
Ronald Neilson has a daughter to help motivate his rehabilitation, the man this week sent to jail for a series of crimes - including stealing a Porsche - was told. Photo / Dean Purcell
Neilson was kicked out of Australia for committing a “serious bodily harm” crime, and Judge Lummis said she could “understand your frustration [with the deportation], given you consider yourself Australian”.
But the judge also noted Neilson has a daughter, and family “who spoke highly of him”, to motivate him.
Among those in court on Thursday was Neilson’s mother, who sat quietly in the back as her son was sent to jail.
“See you mum, love you mum”, Neilson called, as guards led him from the dock to begin his sentence.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
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