Sean Broderick pictured at his sentencing today in the Auckland District Court. Photo / Alex Burton
The man who stole a car with a young baby girl inside at a Whangārei petrol station has been sentenced to home detention, as a judge says the prolific offender can still turn his life around.
Sean Broderick, 53, was completely unaware the baby was sleeping in the back seat when he took the car from the forecourt in May this year.
"Mr Broderick, to be perfectly clear, is not charged with kidnapping," defence lawyer Daniel Schellenberg said.
Broderick travelled too fast around a sharp right turn, losing control of the vehicle and mounting a footpath before colliding with a rock retaining wall.
The car veered back across the road and crashed into a parked vehicle.
Broderick continued to drive, going over the retaining wall of a neighbouring driveway.
The car dropped about a metre down the embankment.
He then fled the scene.
"The baby was unharmed and remained restrained in the rear of the vehicle," Judge Aitken said.
Broderick wanted to meet the victim to apologise face-to-face and had also written her a letter to share how sorry he was.
"I regard your plea of guilty as effectively reinforcing what is very clearly genuine remorse in this particular case," the judge said.
The driving offences he admitted were: unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, failing to stop, driving while disqualified, and dangerous driving.
Broderick had also pleaded guilty to escaping custody on August 26 and one charge of breaching intensive supervision when he failed to report on March 19.
"You have demonstrated profoundly manipulative behaviours in the past," Judge Aitken said.
"And in general terms, it is fair to describe you as a persistent and varied offender who is assessed at very high risk of re-offending."
But on the other hand, Corrections acknowledged that inadvertently taking the baby had a significant impact on him, she said.
"You see this very much as a turning point."
In essence, Broderick was asking for the chance to show he could change, she said.
While incarcerated, he had for the first time been able to engage with te reo and his Māori culture, she said.
"What is remarkable, in my view Mr Broderick, is that in that context you have learnt, lead and taught kapa haka. You are described now as an accomplished bone and wood carver.
"You want to share your progress. You want to mentor others."