Pay the fines before you fly, judge tells graffiti vandal

A man nearly missed his flight to Australia after a Gisborne District Court judge refused to allow him to leave the district without paying about $3500 in outstanding fines.

Joseph John Renata Mita, appeared in the court before a different judge about a fortnight earlier pleading guilty to a charge of wilfully damaging a building with graffiti.

At the time he told the judge he had tickets to leave the country and was sent home to get them as proof.

But Mita failed to return and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

In court yesterday, Mita told Judge Mark Perkins that he had lost the original set of tickets.

However, his mother had just bought him more for a flight to Australia that afternoon.

He could not afford to pay his fines before leaving.

Counsel Nicola Meikle said it would be too punitive to prevent Mita from moving on in life over such a matter.

Mita could enter into an automatic payment regime before leaving the country.

But Judge Perkins said Mita's enthusiasm to pay would no doubt diminish as soon as he landed in Sydney and it was unlikely he would return.

Mita had "painted a whole lot of graffiti on a building" for which more than $900 in reparation was being sought, the judge said.

The New Zealand taxpayer and the local authority were entitled to have reimbursement.

Mita returned to the dock later in the day with a bank cheque, funded by his mother, for the outstanding fines.

The judge made a reparation order for the damage caused and released the 22-year-old.

Mita bolted from the court for the airport - and Australia.

- NZPA