Prisoner hospitalised after bag of meth burst in his belly has been found with drug again

Jolene Rose dealt over 8kg of meth during the course of her criminal career. Photo / 123rf

A prisoner hospitalised after a bag of meth he swallowed at a tangi burst, nearly killing him, has been found possessing the drug again in a more conventional manner.

Released from prison, Huata Haimona Haare Irving hadn’t hidden it in any of his orifices or swallowed it this time.

The drugs were found on him by police after a short spate of offending in Te Awamutu in November last year.

Earlier last year, Irving, 31, was granted compassionate bail to attend the tangi of a relative killed when their car, and another, containing Paul and Lois Grimmer, collided on State Highway 3, north of Te Awamutu in May.

His relative, Cheyene Love-Mitchell, with occupants, Piata Ofufangavalu, and Suliasi Lefai, also died.

When he returned to prison, Irving was hospitalised after a bag of meth he had ingested at the tangi burst.

Today, Irving was back in the Hamilton District Court.

He appeared via audio-visual link from prison to be sentenced on three charges of breaching prison release conditions, theft, and motor vehicle conversion.

Judge Philip Crayton explained how Irving was released from his previous jail term for multiple convictions, including assault with intent to injure, on September 4 last year.

His first breach happened six days later when he changed his address without telling Corrections, leaving the agency unsure as to where he was.

Then on November 7, Irving and an associate were in a Te Awamutu carpark when he ran to a Hilux ute, smashed the window and stole a radar worth $1200.

He was then seen in a vehicle that had the wrong number plates. Methamphetamine was found on him when searched by police.

‘He’s committed to doing better'

In court, Irving’s counsel Rob Quin submitted prison was a suitable outcome but asked the judge to keep it short as the offending was “fairly low level”.

He explained Irving had trouble complying with his release conditions due to homelessness and meth use.

He’d been in custody for the past three months and was “committed to doing better now”.

In assessing the length of sentence to hand down, Judge Crayton noted Irving’s criminal history which stretched a decade.

In more recent years he’d been jailed twice for family violence.

While the theft of the radar was the most serious charge, it was failing to change his address that concerned him the most.

“You were not known to Probation and they didn’t know where you were.”

He labelled the theft as “a considered course of dishonesty offending”.

Judge Crayton didn’t order any reparation as Irving had no means to pay it.

He was jailed for eight months.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.