'Troubled' orphan jailed over crime spree

The pair gave themselves up to armed police. File photo / Hawke's Bay Today

A Russian orphan who came to New Zealand for a better life was yesterday jailed for two years and three months for over 20 offences including burglary, unlawfully taking motor vehicles and possession of a firearm.

Andrej Michael Schwaab, 17, was sentenced in Nelson District Court after a five-day crime spree last month with a 15-year-old friend, the Nelson Mail reported.

The pair had been tracked through Kaikoura, Seddon, Blenheim, Havelock and Rai Valley, taking cars and stealing property, before they were stopped with road spikes on State Highway 6 near Hira, 17km north-east of Nelson, on July 20.

They were confronted by armed officers and gave up without a struggle.

The court was told Schwaab - who moved to Christchurch with his adoptive mother 10 years ago - spent the first two years of his life tied to a potty in a Russian orphanage.

Judge Tony Zohrab said Schwaab had a troubled life "through no fault of his own" but still managed to play the clarinet, read a book a day and study ballet.

"The best nurture could not undo what nature had done to you," he said.

Schwaab was also disqualified from driving for two years.

- NZPA