KEY POINTS:
A judge has cut jail time for two teenage home invaders after learning they were turning 18 and would serve time in mainstream prison.
Judge Philip Moran noted at their sentencing in the Christchurch District Court yesterday the young offenders were worried about what would happen to them in adult prison.
"Having young men in mainstream prison doesn't help with their rehabilitation and exposes them to hardened criminals," he said.
His three-month reduction in their sentences will have a major effect on Taylor Paati Kaipo and Adam Ngahuru, both poultry workers.
It has brought the jail term down to the two-year threshold, allowing the judge to grant them leave to apply for home detention.
They were not the main offenders in the June 24 night-time home invasion in which a man was punched to the ground and kicked repeatedly in a case of mistaken identity. He was in a front flat of the property whereas the attack had been aimed at a person living in the back flat.
The leader of the attack was Te Hau Herewhini Reihana, also 17 at the time, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced in December. He had 18 months' jail added to a long prison sentence he was already serving for a group attack on a young couple walking home through an Addington alley.
Kaipo and Ngahuru denied being involved but Judge Moran said the jury's guilty verdicts were inevitable.
One of their footprints was found on some paper at the doorway where the attack began and the other had the victim's blood on his shoe.
The judge said it was sad to be sentencing two young men for entering the person's home with the intent to injure him.
The counsel for Kaipo, Richard McGuire, said his client had no previous convictions and had support from his family. He would turn 18 this month.
Counsel for Ngahuru, Peter Doody, said his client had found his time in custody difficult in the prison youth wing and had real concerns about being mainstreamed when turning 18 in June.
Judge Moran said the victim had already been having treatment for anxiety and depression at the time of the attack and it had had severe psychological effects on him.
He had become fearful the group would finish him off and could not face work. He had used up his annual leave and lost $600 in wages through lost time.
The judge noted Kaipo had sporting talent and might have a future as a professional rugby league player.
Ngahuru had become involved in gangs in the North Island and had come to Christchurch to make a new start.
"It is important that both of you continue to have the love and support of your families," said the judge. "You are going to need it."
Ngahuru was ordered to attend counselling programmes when released.
- NZPA
