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Trevor and Rosemary Newbrooks’ Rotorua home was burgled and destroyed in a mysterious arson.
Monique Gardiner, 34, was caught hocking off their possessions hours later.
A pounamu mere and family jewellery were among the items stolen.
Monique Gardiner, 34, was caught selling the Newbrooks’ sentimental and valuable possessions while they were away visiting a close family member diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Only hours earlier, burglars had stolen the items from their home and torched it.
Monique Gardiner appears in the Rotorua District Court for receiving stolen property from a house burgled and destroyed by arson. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Trevor Newbrook is known in Rotorua as chairman of the Restore Rotorua lobby group, which campaigns against the proliferation of emergency housing motels in the city.
On Thursday, Gardiner, of Rotorua stood before Judge Joanne Wickliffe in the Rotorua District Court and was sentenced after admitting two counts of receiving stolen property and an unrelated charge of possessing an offensive weapon. The receiving charges related to property taken from the Newbrooks’ home and another burgled Sumner St home.
The Crown earlier withdrew burglary and arson charges relating to the Newbrooks’ home.
Judge Wickliffe said it was “plainly commercial offending on a significant scale” and given Gardiner was selling the stolen property within hours of the house being burgled and destroyed, and indicated she had a “close connection” to whoever committed the burglaries.
In sentencing Gardiner to 16 months’ prison, Judge Wickliffe said she was impressed with Gardiner’s rehabilitation efforts while remanded in custody since March.
She said Gardiner had already served more than half of the prison sentence, so would likely be freed immediately.
The burglary and fire
A police summary of facts released to the Rotorua Daily Post said the bottom storey of the Newbrooks’ home was rented as a holiday home.
Early on February 7, burglars entered the rental via a jimmied window, then smashed an internal door to reach the main house upstairs.
Investigators at the scene of the Newbrooks' house fire in February. Photo / Andrew Warner
Several items were taken including jewellery, a pounamu mere (a greenstone traditional Māori weapon), cash, collector coins, bags, power tools and electronics.
The burglars set fire to the master bedroom and the walk-in pantry, causing significant damage.
How Gardiner was caught
Between February 7 and 11, Gardiner sold items stolen from the house. Police searched Gardiner’s home on February 13 and found other items taken from both Sumner St burglaries.
The value of the items from the Newbrooks’ home totalled $16,553. Items from the other Sumner St home were valued at $5332.
Gardiner told police she was given the items and had started to wonder if they were stolen, but continued to sell them anyway, the summary said.
She denied knowing about the burglaries and arson.
The impact on the Newbrooks
Trevor Newbrook, in his victim impact statement read to the court at a prior hearing, said he and his wife, both aged 69, had a challenging year in 2023 with serious health issues.
This included Rosemary Newbrook being diagnosed with cancer and learning their daughter-in-law had terminal cancer.
The stolen items included a mere gifted to Trevor Newbrook by his late father when he was the Tourism Minister.
Trevor Newbrook, whose Glenholme home was burgled and torched, is known publicly as the Restore Rotorua lobby group chairman. Photo / Andrew Warner
Newbrook said in his statement losing that item was “culturally insensitive and caused us a great deal of pain and distress”.
Gardiner was also found with his mother’s engagement ring.
“Just the thought that you would touch our Mum’s ring and treat it so disrespectfully makes me feel sick to the stomach. A lot of our possessions that you had, have significant meaning.”
Another item was an unusual pipe made from a tree knot – a gift from his grandfather that had belonged to his father.
“There is a huge emotional toll, stress and trauma caused by you being in possession and trying to sell our personal property, items of both our late mother’s jewellery, many of Rosemary’s treasured items and many things that have so much emotional and personal value to us.
“This has been a total invasion of our lives and something we will never completely get over.”
The judge’s sentencing
Judge Wickcliffe said the stolen mere held significant spiritual meaning.
“If I were a burglar or a receiver, I wouldn’t touch one.”
She said Gardiner’s stint in custody was a “real wake-up call”.
Gardiner told a report writer she had been in an abusive relationship, was “running with the wrong crowd”, and had no support from her “so-called friends” while in jail.
Her mother died when she was young, she only saw her father about once a year and had an 8-year-old son living in Australia.
“It is sad to read … you, basically as a Māori woman, don’t have the usual large family around you,” Judge Wickcliffe said.
The judge said Gardiner worked her way up to a position of responsibility in prison and ran an informal support group to help uplift other prisoners.
Judge Wickliffe’s starting point of two-and-a-half years in prison was discounted 45% because of Gardiner’s guilty plea and mitigating factors including “exceptional” rehabilitation efforts.
“You have got promise, you have got skills and I think once you have got out of prison you are going to do very, very well.”
On each charge of receiving stolen property Gardiner was convicted and sentenced to 16 months prison, to be served concurrently. She was convicted and discharged for possession of a weapon, namely a knife and baseball bat, and her court fines of $590 were wiped.
Kris Bucher appeared for the Crown and Moana Dorset represented Gardiner.
A co-accused has pleaded not guilty to charges of burglary and receiving and was to have a judge-alone trial in March.
No one faces charges relating to the arson of the Newbrooks’ home.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
