In the early hours of the morning, a drunk thief parked a stolen car behind the Rotorua Brass Band building off Amohau St behind Pak’nSave and set it alight.
The man’s actions had devastating consequences. Now he’s serving eight months’ home detention.
Sentencing details have just been released to the Rotorua Daily Post surrounding the case of Nevada Nouata, a 42-year-old living in emergency housing in Rotorua who was charged with the arson of the Rotorua Brass Band building on October 2 last year.
When Nouata decided to torch the stolen car - an uninsured essential vehicle belonging to a struggling young nursing student in Ōpōtiki - he also destroyed the band building containing $120,000 worth of precious instruments and other priceless sheets of music belonging to the Rotorua Symphonic Band, which shares the building with the Rotorua Brass Band.
Months on, those in the band are still struggling to build back their equipment.
They have not only set up a Givealittle page to raise money to buy themselves more instruments, they also want to raise money for Tomairangi Te Puni, the now-stranded 25-year-old who has had to quit her dream of becoming a nurse because she has no transport to get to her course.
A police summary of facts released to the Rotorua Daily Post showed Nouata was drunk and in Ōpōtiki when he stole a Toyota Rav 4 from a property on Otara Rd, parked at Te Puni’s relative’s house.
Te Puni had been doing her laundry at her relative’s house and had left a large number of clothing items in a red flexi tub inside the car belonging to her and her brother.
Despite being a disqualified driver, Nouata drove the vehicle to Rotorua, arriving just after 4am. He spent just over an hour driving around Rotorua before parking the stolen vehicle up the driveway of Shambles Theatre off Amohau St and behind the band building, about 20 centimetres from the building’s wall.
He set the car on fire before walking off with the clothing in the flexi tub to his Hinemaru St address.
He later told police he set fire to the car to hide his fingerprints, but later had set his mind to the fact the building could have also caught fire, the summary said.
Nouata pleaded guilty to two charges of arson, and one charge each of theft of a motor vehicle and disqualified driving third or subsequent, and Judge Maree MacKenzie sentenced him on January 27 this year in Rotorua District Court.
Te Puni read her victim impact statement to the court. In it, she described how she had just got back on her feet by doing a nursing degree following personal setbacks.
She had also recently taken in a young family member and had promised to give them a good life, including taking them to after-school activities and sports.
Te Puni told the Rotorua Daily Post last week she had been forced to quit her course and she was now stranded without a vehicle.
Sentencing notes released to the Rotorua Daily Post revealed Judge MacKenzie said there was “incalculable harm” caused to band members that not only had a devastating impact on them, but also the community.
“What is clear is there has been a significant impact arising from your selfish actions,” Judge MacKenzie told Nouata at sentencing.
She said there was not only a financial toll, given an insurance shortfall of more than $200,000 to rebuild the building, but there was also mental stress.
She said it was costly and emotional to replace the instruments and the band had lost a library of music built up over many years.
In listing the aggravating factors, she said there was premeditation and drunkenness was not a defence.
She gave a starting point of three and a half years in prison but gave discounts for guilty pleas, remorse and background factors including his severe alcohol use disorder. This took his sentence down to two years in prison.
She agreed he was a candidate for home detention and could live with his brother in Hawke’s Bay. Prison sentences are automatically halved when converted to home detention. Once Judge MacKenzie reduced the sentence by the four months he had already spent in prison, she arrived at a sentence of eight months’ home detention.
Helping to heal
One of those connected to the Rotorua Symphonic Band who was at the sentencing, Adrienne Hall, told the Rotorua Daily Post last week the sentence was “hard to take” given the devastation they suffered.
She said Te Puni’s situation hurt them deeply, as well as their own loss of precious instruments.
None of the band members was aware of Te Puni’s loss until they met her at January’s sentencing, she said.
“Her heart-rendering statement she bravely read at the sentencing had us all in tears.”
Hall has since been pivotal in helping to set up two Givealittle pages that will hopefully help both of their situations.
Among the band’s destroyed instruments were four timpanis, an orchestral bass drum and stand, an orchestral marimba, orchestral tubular bells and the stand for them, a glockenspiel, an antique vibraphone, two drumkits, handheld bells, a rainmaker, shakers, maracas, castanets, a triangle, a cowbell, two woodblocks, two tambourines and numerous mallets and beaters.
Hall said the instruments had been collected over several years and were often hired to schools and touring bands.
Anyone wanting to donate to the band can go to its Givealittle page, while those wanting to help get Te Puni enough money to replace her car can donate at this Givealittle page.
The 36-year-old died on December 19.