KEY POINTS:
A Tauranga man who cut off his home detention ankle bracelet and took off for a day at the beach with his daughter may have created history by returning home afterwards.
Clayton Holloway, 23, pleaded guilty in the Tauranga District Court on Monday to breaching his home detention conditions.
The court was told that on March 9 Holloway, who had served just over two months of a five-month home detention sentence for burglary, cut off his security ankle bracelet and left his Payne St address without permission.
Tampering with the anklet immediately alerted Chubb security, who arrived at Holloway's home to find the bracelet on the kitchen table - and no sign of Holloway.
Duty solicitor Ned Burke told Judge Louis Bidois that Holloway, who had been drinking that day, had been pestered by his young daughter to take her to the beach, so he cut off the anklet and took her, not thinking about the consequences.
A senior probation officer confirmed this might be the first such incident in New Zealand. Offenders have absconded before but none are believed to have returned voluntarily.
Judge Bidois told Holloway many people struggled on home detention.
"You will have to decide, Mr Holloway, whether you can hack it.
"If you think you can't, we can save everyone the trouble and I will cancel your sentence and you can do a lag [jail term]".
Holloway told the judge he could hack it and wanted another chance to do so.
Judge Bidois imposed an extra month of home detention for the breach and also warned Holloway that if he breached any of his home detention conditions again - including the ban on drinking alcohol - he would go to jail.
- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES
