A District Court magistrate has criticised a man’s behaviour after threatening to “blow up” a local bank.
The court heard that Ashton Lea Cummings, 20, had threatened people at the Ashburton ANZ October, landing him in court with an unlawful intimidation charge.
According to the summary of facts, he had gone there to do some banking, but became upset when he found it was closed.
The victim was crossing the street before Cummings allegedly turned to them and said: “I hope you don’t bank with ANZ because I’m going to blow this up.”
Duty lawyer Tiffany McRae said he realised in hindsight how reckless his words were.
“He was frustrated, basically, when he said that.
“He acknowledges this was just a really stupid thing to have done.”
She said Cummings was paying off around $700 in unrelated court fines and had the means to pay off another fine for this offence.
Magistrate Elder Robati had some strong words for the young man.
“It was a stupid thing that you did.”
Robati said Cummings’ age was taken into account when deciding the verdict.
He was convicted and must pay a $200 fine, along with court costs.
A cry for help
Tyreece Tahapehi, 21, pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly behaviour.
He had been walking down Chambers Avenue in October when another person started agitating him.
Tahapehi began shouting and waving his arms around, resulting in police coming to the scene.
He continued acting aggressively before being taken into police custody.
Lawyer Gretchen Hart said Tahapehi’s behaviour was really a “cry for help”.
“The defendant was challenged with some mental health aspects going on in his life.”
The police officer dealing with Tahapehi was able to refer him to mental health services.
He’d applied for help previously but had not been considered a priority patient, so ended up receiving no help.
“This was a cry for help,” Hart said, “and the wheels are in motion now to put help in place for the defendant.”
Magistrate Robati said Tahapehi had family support and his attempts to seek help were taken into consideration.
He served him a sentence of “come up if called upon”, meaning Tahapehi won’t face consequences for this charge, but if he offends again in the next six months it would reactivate it.
“You just need to stay out of trouble for the next six months,” Robati said.
Application to scrap conviction
A Christchurch man, with over double the legal limit of alcohol in his system, has asked for a discharge without conviction.
Jacob John Ansley, 24, appeared in the Ashburton District Court after blowing 518 micrograms of breath alcohol while behind the wheel.
Duty lawyer Gretchen Hart said Ansley would plead guilty, but asked Magistrate Robati to hold off on entering a conviction.
She said his job as a snowboard instructor required him to travel internationally, and that a conviction would make this difficult.
Ansley requested extra time to file a discharge without conviction application, which would see him receive consequences for his charge but save him from receiving a record.
Robati granted the time and Ansley will reappear in late February for sentencing.
Snowboard instructor keeps clean record
Another snowboard instructor was discharged without conviction for a charge of drink driving.
Police found Aston Roberts, 20, was driving with a breath alcohol level of 600 micrograms, over double the legal limit.
Lawyer Tiffany McRae said Roberts pleaded guilty, but had applied for a discharge without conviction as a record could seriously affect his ability to travel internationally.
That’s of significance, she said, as he’s a snowboard instructor, who travels the world to teach.
He was looking at travelling to Canada soon.
“In the foreseeable future, it’s my submission that it’ll be a significant barrier in getting employment,” McRae said.
While police were neutral about the application for a conviction and discharge, police prosecutor Sergeant Trevor Holman disagreed with McRae’s statement.
“Entering a conviction would not bar him from going to Canada.
“It’s often said this would be a barrier, but that is simply not the case.”
Magistrate Robati said the court takes drink driving seriously, but Roberts’ offending was moderate.
He had also taken steps to better himself following the charge, Robati said.
“It’s to your credit that you’ve undertaken defensive driving.
“You are otherwise a person of dedication and good character.”
Robati ruled that a conviction and discharge was reasonable and granted it, disqualifying Roberts from driving for six months.
