The 29-year-old suffered a “significant workplace injury” when he was 16, from where many of his troubles had stemmed, Judge Garry Barkle noted when sentencing him to prison in the Nelson District Court today.
Judge Barkle said Perring had lost his employment and had then struggled to get work, had become “directionless” and started mixing with others described as “less than savoury”.
He was sentenced to 16 months in prison on 20 charges, including burglary, multiple shoplifting offences, plus charges of receiving property worth over $1000, careless driving and failing to stop or check anyone was injured.
On December 11, last year, Perring, who held a learner’s licence, was driving intoxicated passengers on SH6 Rocks Rd, around the Nelson waterfront when he got distracted by loose items that fell on him.
He then crashed into the back of another vehicle, briefly stopped, then drove off in the cycle lane, undertaking traffic that was at a near standstill.
Police said he did not stop to check on the driver or passengers in the vehicle he ran into.
It preceded what became a string of Christmas and New Year shoplifting offences.
In January this year, Perring was in Woolworths in Richmond when he loaded up his backpack with meat and left without paying.
Two days later, he went back to the same store but was intercepted by a manager as he was walking out.
After being told to open his backpack, staff found butchery items including lamb chops, sirloin beef and a side of lamb.
The items were recovered and Perring was trespassed from the store.
He then tried his luck at another supermarket, this time New World in Stoke, where he selected a variety of meat products and placed them in his backpack.
Perring then collected two packets of bacon and placed them in his pants before heading to the checkout, where he tried to buy an energy drink.
His card was declined and he left the store without paying for the meat in his backpack or the bacon in his pants, worth a total of $182.
On January 31, a $2500 e-bike was stolen from outside a Nelson bike shop, after the front wheel was removed through which a security chain was threaded.
Some time between then and February 19, Perring came into possession of the stolen bicycle, police said.
He was found with the bike in the back of his vehicle, without its front wheel, when police arrested him on a warrant matter.
A few days later, on the morning of February 6 this year, he was back at the same supermarket where he selected $239 worth of meat products, placed them in his backpack and went to the checkout.
Perring paid for an energy drink he picked up but made no attempt to pay for the meat in his backpack.
He was stopped by staff who confronted him as he left the store, and handed over the meat.
On March 18, Perring was at Kmart in Richmond, where he grabbed a $49 haircut kit, concealed it in his backpack and left the store.
Then, in early April, Perring shifted his focus to a Nelson toy store.
He entered Crackerjack Toys, removed his backpack and placed it on the ground behind a display stand at the back of the store.
Perring then selected a $110 Lego toy car set and hid it in his backpack.
He walked around the store, chose another toy car and hid it in his jumper, then left the store without paying.
About half an hour later, Perring returned to the store, where he selected two more toy cars, one of which he put in his backpack and concealed the other in his clothing.
All his actions were captured on CCTV, police said.
He was back a month later, and browsed the model cars on sale before placing three down the front of his pants, which was again seen on CCTV.
A worker confronted Perring and asked him to return the items, which he claimed to have put back on the shelf.
He gave the worker a false name and was verbally trespassed while leaving the store with the items still in his pants.
Perring then reverted his attention back to supermarkets, where on April 29 he made his way around Pak ‘N Save in Richmond, placing grocery items including steak, cheese, a noodle bowl, an energy drink, plus beauty products and Neurofen medication in his pants and hoodie pockets.
He left through a self-service checkout without making any attempt to pay for the groceries.
Perring’s final target before he was placed in custody was the Warehouse in Nelson, where he was seen putting a $25 charger down his trousers.
His term of imprisonment included sentencing for minor cannabis offending, which arose from his trying to take a bicycle from a bike stand in central Nelson.
When he was stopped by the police, they found a small amount of cannabis on him.
Perring was also disqualified from driving for eight months on the driving charges.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
