Brothers Joshua Tocker and Nathan Gray were "slighted" they had been kicked out of a Halloween party so later returned to carry out a home invasion.
Brothers Joshua Tocker and Nathan Gray were "slighted" they had been kicked out of a Halloween party so later returned to carry out a home invasion.
Two brothers who were thrown out of a Halloween party they weren’t invited to retaliated by donning disguises and returning with weapons, including a sawn-off shotgun, a greenstone mere and a tomahawk.
It was around 1am when Nathan Gray and Joshua Tocker arrived back at the New Plymouth property that was now closed up, with the lights off and the family asleep inside.
Tocker, who was wearing Gray’s gang vest, a balaclava and armed with the firearm and a mallet, booted in the front door. Gray had on a jacket with his hood up and was wielding a greenstone mere and a tomahawk.
The siblings stormed the house and proceeded to smash windows and the family’s electronic items, New Plymouth District Court heard on Friday.
As they were about to leave, they encountered the male who resided at the property. Tocker took to him with the mallet, smashing him in the head twice, and then pulled the gun on him. He was left with a fractured skull, lacerations to his head, and a broken hand.
Last year’s violent home invasion followed an equally violent confrontation at the house only hours earlier.
A friend of Tocker and Gray’s had been invited to a Halloween party at the property.
Despite the brothers not knowing the family who lived there and being told they were not welcome, they went anyway and a confrontation soon ensued.
Someone had commented about Gray’s tattoos and, feeling “slighted”, a fight broke out and Gray smacked one of the guests across the head with a tyre iron, causing him lacerations that needed stitches.
The woman who resided at the property grabbed Gray’s shoulder and asked him to leave but this resulted in him turning around and punching her in the head, leaving her unconscious.
While the brothers left the property, it was not long before they returned to carry out the home invasion.
‘I knew I had to be quiet or else I could be hurt’
At their sentencing, Judge Robert Spear said it was clear they were there to commit violent offending and the fact they had armed themselves and worn disguises was troubling.
The judge was “somewhat bewildered” as to why they felt they needed to return to the house but said they “obviously felt slighted” by the earlier events.
What was also clear was the impact the home invasion has had on the family.
The woman who was knocked unconscious said they have since had to move house and she was still suffering migraines from the assault.
The brothers were sentenced in New Plymouth District Court on Friday. Photo / Tara Shaskey
However, the greatest toll was her concern for her teen daughter who was home that night and had now been diagnosed with PTSD as a result.
In her victim impact statement, she said her daughter used to be “happy-go-lucky” but was now crippled by fear and anxiety.
The woman has had to take time off work to care for the teen, who has been absent from school, and has been fighting to have her seen by a psychologist.
she said ACC would not cover the teen for the mental injury incurred by the traumatic event because she was not physically injured, and the waitlist to see a counsellor has been lengthy.
The daughter told the court she was woken by windows being smashed.
She grabbed her blanket and hid under it on the floor of her room, not making a sound as one of the brothers entered.
“I knew I had to be quiet or else I could be hurt.”
The teen could hear her step-father, who was hit with the mallet, “screaming for his life”.
She has recurring nightmares, was triggered by certain noises and is now on medication.
“My right to a normal life has been taken away from me.”
Traumatic backgrounds and genuine remorse
Crown prosecutor Jo Woodcock said it was very serious offending committed in the presence of young children, and has had a significant impact on all victims.
She highlighted the brothers did not know the family nor were they welcome at the address then returned armed and wearing disguises.
Defence lawyers Kylie Pascoe, for Gray, and Nathan Bourke, for Tocker, accepted the seriousness of the offending and its impact.
However, they both submitted the men had traumatic backgrounds which were linked to the offending and they were both genuinely remorseful.
Pascoe further submitted Gray was young, having been 21 at the time of the offending, had no previous convictions, had started counselling while in custody, and while he was a patched member of a gang, which was not named in court, it was not a gang attack.
The court also heard the summary of facts had conceded Gray had not seen who grabbed his shoulder and did not realise it was a woman he punched.
Judge Spear found that while the pair had different parts to play in the offending, they were equally culpable and took a start point of eight years and six months imprisonment.
He accepted they were both remorseful and that their backgrounds may have had a role to play in the offending but said the physical and emotional damage they caused was “well understood”.
“It is clear that this family will take many years as they work towards trying to put this behind them.”
The judge then jailed Gray for four years and three months and Tocker for five years and three months.
Gray, who admitted charges of committing burglary with a weapon, wounding with intent to injure and assault with intent to injure, was given a 50% discount for his guilty pleas, youth, remorse, having no previous convictions, and his background.
While Tocker, who pleaded guilty to committing burglary with a weapon, wounding with intent to injure and breaching a protection order by possessing a firearm, received an uplift for his previous convictions and then 40% credit for his guilty pleas, background and remorse.
As the men were led out of the dock by Corrections staff to begin their sentences, Gray turned to address the family who were seated in the public gallery.
“Sorry about that,” he said.
Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.
