Whakatāne woman Michaela Hallinan has avoided being jailed for a “vigilante justice” style assault against a man who propositioned her for sex.

The 30-year-old appeared for sentencing before Judge Melinda Mason in Whakatāne District Court on Wednesday, having pleaded guilty to wounding with reckless disregard, theft from a person and wilful damage.

Summarising the offending, Judge Mason said Hallinan stabbed the victim multiple times with a short blade after he exposed himself to her.

The victim has an intellectual disability, which the judge noted the defendant might not have known at the time. She also acknowledged that Hallinan had PTSD that was likely triggered by the victim’s actions.

Hallinan vaguely knew the victim through the local community and online.

The victim contacted her through social media app TikTok, requesting to have a sexual encounter with her. Hallinan agreed to meet the man in person, but the judge said the defendant never intended to fulfil his request.

The pair met in Mitchell Park mid-morning on January 4.

Hallinan told the victim to follow her across to the other side of the park but when she turned around, she noticed he had exposed himself.

She told the victim to go sit on a bench and he complied but pulled his pants all the way to his ankles.

With a closed fist and while holding a lighter, Hallinan punched the victim in the head, then stole his phone.

The victim attempted to chase her but fell because of the pants around his ankles.

In response to the victim yelling that he had a hammer, Hallinan produced a pocketknife and exposed about an inch of the blade. She attacked him around the torso.

The victim suffered seven stab wounds, some of which became infected.

Hallinan smashed the victim’s Samsung phone later that evening.

Judge Mason said she was concerned that Hallinan had told pre-sentence report writers that she would do it again.

“Vigilante justice has no place here,” she said.

The judge told Hallinan that she should have gone to the police, but by smashing the victim’s phone, she had destroyed evidence.

She said the victim thought he was going to die.

Judge Mason said that on the face of it, Hallinan’s offending justified a prison sentence. After taking the morning adjournment to read the lawyer’s submissions and understand the defendant’s background, she opted to take a different route.

Hallinan was sentenced to seven-and-a-half months’ home detention, to be served in Auckland. Adjustments, including a two-month uplift for multiple charges and discounts totalling 40 percent for mitigating factors, were included in the decision.

She will be subject to six months of release conditions upon conclusion of her sentence, and must pay $399 reparation for the damaged phone.

Money laundering rooted in ‘naivety’

A Whakatāne woman who moved stolen money through her bank account was naive about the situation she was in, the court was told.

More than $17,000 was transferred into, then out of, the account 56-year-old Gaylene Edwards set up.

She became involved in the operation when she responded to an advertisement on a social media platform.

“Effectively, she was used as a mule in this scheme,” lawyer Natasha Hartigan said.

Edwards would receive money into the bank account and then transfer it out to the people who asked her to set it up.

The offending was discovered when a client’s payment for work completed by a Rotorua-based earthmoving and landscaping company went missing.

Hackers intercepted an invoice sent to the client and substituted the company’s legitimate bank account details for those of Edwards’ account.

The customer paid more than $6000 to Edwards’ bank account and subsequently received a notice from the company that their invoice was overdue.

Other transactions totalling $3000, $3900 and $4750 were also moved through the account.

Ms Hartigan said the defendant was sorry for what happened and she did not want to be in this position again.

Edwards is unemployed and her primary role is as a caregiver for her husband, but she was willing to pay reparation.

The defendant originally signalled an intention to apply to be discharged without conviction, but that was not pursued at this week’s hearing.

Judge Melinda Mason sentenced Edwards to 60 hours of community work and ordered her to pay $6339.56 in reparation.

Bail granted

Sam Douglas has been remanded on electronically monitored bail to appear before the Whakatāne District Court in March.

The defendant has denied charges of assault on a person in a family relationship, breaching a protection order, impeding breathing or blood circulation, wilful damage and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle.

Co-defendants deny charges

Jointly charged Tipene Te Rire and Atamarie Te Rire have each pleaded not guilty to three counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Police allege the offending occurred in Te Teko last month and involved three different victims.

Tipene Te Rire also faces a charge of failing to carry out his obligations regarding a search warrant, which he denies.

Both defendants were remanded on bail to February for a case review hearing. They elected to be tried by jury.

Bail ahead of trial

Jimmy-James Temoana-Hauwaho was granted bail on charges of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm.

He has denied the charges and is due to go to trial in March.

Police did not oppose the application for bail.

Sentencing adjourned

The sentencing of Johnathon Edwards for driving while disqualified has been delayed to the new year to allow him time to reinstate his licence.

Edwards pleaded guilty to the charge this week.

Lawyer Rebecca Plunkett said the defendant was indefinitely disqualified from driving in 1998 and he was working with Tūhoe Hauora to lift it.

Edwards was remanded to February for sentencing.

Positive turn for Te Teko man

Holding employment for the first time in a decade, speaking on the marae for the first time and viewing his own rental property: Miro Chase’s lawyer painted the picture of a man turning his life around.

Chase, 43, appeared for sentencing this week on charges of theft, being unlawfully in an enclosed yard and breaching a supervision sentence.

Lawyer Kylee O’Connor sought an adjournment of the sentencing exercise because the defendant had moved to a new bail address out of town and Probation were in the process of canvassing its potential suitability for an electronically monitored sentence.

Judge Mason determined that Chase’s liberty did not need to be limited and instead sentenced him to 12 months’ supervision to ensure he continued in a positive direction.

“It sounds like things are going really well,” she told the defendant.

“You’ve got a very supportive family.”

Chase was not sentenced to community work because Judge Mason said she did not want him making “the wrong friends”.

Reparations totalling $171.99 were ordered.

Further case review

Another case review hearing has been scheduled for David Johnson, who denies two weapons charges.

He is due back in court in February.

Insanity defence raised

A dedicated hearing is required to determine whether a woman accused of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm was insane at the time.

The woman appeared in person this week. Her lawyer Xu Wang sought that Judge Mason deem the defendant insane based on two psychiatric reports before the court.

The Crown prosecutor conceded that the only appropriate outcome was for the defendant to be deemed insane but sought that the disposition hearing be delayed.

Mr Wang also sought that the defendant’s bail be varied to allow her to enter Whakatāne. The application will be heard on December 12.

By that date lawyers should have been provided a date for the disposition hearing.

Repeat burglar sentenced

Whakatāne man Shane Mulafia has been jailed for three burglaries and a raft of other charges, including threats and one assault.

According to charging documents, 36-year-old Mulafia burgled a Kiwi Street house on August 30. Charges from the same date include acting threateningly towards the same house, common assault and threatening to kill.

A second burglary at the same address was committed on September 4. Mulafia was charged with being in possession of a knife the same day on a nearby street.

Other charges Mulafia was sentenced on include a third burglary at a Papamoa address, obstructing police, possession of methamphetamine, possession of utensils for methamphetamine and breaching his release conditions.

Judge Mason acknowledged that Mulafia was struggling with his mental health, but she said he had been self-medicating with methamphetamine, which did not help.

Mulafia was sentenced to nine months’ prison with six months of release conditions.

Rural burglar fell into old habits

Whakatāne man Clifford Riini burgled rural properties because old drug-related situations caught up with him, the court heard.

Riini, 43, was sentenced to 11-and-a-half months’ prison for charges of burglary, intentional damage and two counts of being unlawfully in an enclosed yard.

On the afternoon of October 6, Riini drove to an address in rural Edgecumbe and identified a shed. He returned at 2.30am in a different vehicle and kicked open the shed door.

Riini removed two all-terrain vehicles and a trailer from the shed, transporting them to nearby Western Drain Road.

Judge Mason said he drove through wire fencing at an orchard, then concealed the stolen items. He later returned to uplift the property.

Earlier, on July 25, the defendant drove up a driveway on Matatā Road. It was the middle of the night, and his headlights were off.

When questioned by an occupant, Riini said he was looking for someone.

Lawyer Natasha Hartigan said the offending was a departure from the defendant’s norm.

He used to struggle with drug addiction, she said, but he got himself out.

Then old matters caught up with him, leading to this offending.

Ms Hartigan sought for leave to be granted allowing Riini to apply for home detention if an address became available, or in the event he was accepted to a residential rehab facility.

Judge Mason granted the leave. Riini will be subject to release conditions for six months at the conclusion of his sentence.

Report waived

Courtney Koopu waived his right to a pre-sentence report in favour of being sentenced on the same day he pleaded guilty.

Koopu pleaded guilty to burglary, failing to remain stopped for police, and assault with a blunt instrument.

Police withdrew charges of being unlawfully in an enclosed yard, consuming methamphetamine, prohibited display of gang insignia and resisting police.

Koopu was sentenced to 20 months’ prison with six months of release conditions. He must pay $966 in reparations for damages to a police vehicle.

Further remand

Coastlands man Redmond Huirua was remanded to December 17 on a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.