Six weeks' jail for doing a runner on $155 taxi fare

File photo / Daily Post

A Rotorua woman who caught a taxi from Tauranga to Rotorua but didn't pay the fare has been sent to jail for six weeks.

She has also been ordered to pay the $155 fare.

Anthea Lynne Houkamau, 33, appeared in the District Court at Rotorua yesterday after previously pleading guilty to a charge of obtaining by deception, giving false details and driving while disqualified.

According to the police summary of facts, Houkamau was stopped at a routine police check while driving on Tauranga's Cameron Rd on May 10 about 12.30pm. She hesitated in giving her details, before giving her date of birth but her sister's name

She told police she'd been disqualified from driving and that was why she had given them false details.

She was with an associate and her pet dog and her car was impounded.

She called a taxi, was told the fare to Rotorua would be $155, and agreed to pay knowing she couldn't cover the bill.

Arriving in Rotorua about 3.30pm, Houkamau asked the driver to go to the Selwyn Heights shops as she needed to get money from an ATM to pay. Houkamau, her associate and the dog got out of the taxi and walked around the back of the shops, making no attempt to pay.

Police were called and she was found a short time later. She told police she knew she couldn't pay and shouldn't have arranged the taxi.

Judge Jocelyn Munro said Houkamau had mental health issues and a number of previous convictions for dishonesty.

The judge said there was no electronically monitored sentence available and a short term of imprisonment was a realistic option.

Houkamau was sentenced to six weeks' jail and ordered to pay reparation of $155 within three months.

Earlier this year, the court had ordered Houkamau to pay reparation of $448.66 for petrol stolen in seven drive-offs.

She had previously pleaded guilty to seven charges of stealing petrol between September 9 last year and January 23. On that occasion she was also banned from driving for a year.