Man's plea for home detention fails

Photo / Supplied.

When a man struck the jackpot on a pokie machine in a Christchurch bar, he became a target for Latu Otufangavalu and his mates.

They watched the man collect his $840 winnings, and then followed him to another bar about two hours later.

When he left that bar about 5.30am on December 24 last year, Otufangavalu and an associate were waiting for him.

They walked with him for some time, then set upon him, punching him in the head and knocking him to the ground.

He was kicked in the head and knocked unconscious. Luckily, his injuries were neither lasting nor serious.

Otufanavalu and his associate stole the victim's cap, his wallet and his cellphone. Only the phone was recovered.

Today the Court of Appeal dismissed Otufangavalu's appeal against Judge Michael Radford's refusal to allow him to serve home detention on a single charge of robbery.

Judge Radford, in Christchurch District Court in September, jailed Otufangavalu, who was 19 at the time of the robbery, for 20 months, after giving him a discount of 30 per cent for his early guilty plea.

The judge had adopted a starting point of three years, having regard to the degree of violence, the number of attackers and the element of premeditation. He rejected a probation officer's home detention recommendations.

As part of his plea to the Court of Appeal for home detention, Otufangavalu's lawyer argued that Judge Radford had failed to address the principle that offenders should be kept in the community so far as practicable.

In its judgment the Court of Appeal said there were three factors that led it to decide the judge was right.

"The first is the sinister nature of the offending, with the appellant and his associates planning and pursuing the robbery over a period of hours.

"Second is the degree of violence involved in this group attack.

"Third is the appellant's failure to appreciate or do anything about the link between his alcohol abuse and his offending," the Court of Appeal said.

- NZPA