Latest news with #RicStevens
RNZ News
20-07-2025
- RNZ News
Supreme Court to hear appeal against sentence of man who committed rape at age 15
By Ric Stevens, Open Justice reporter of The young man's lawyers say he should have been dealt with in the Youth Court, where a prison sentence would have been unlikely. Photo: RNZ Insight This article deals with sexual offending against three young women and may be distressing for some readers. A 15-year-old who raped a teen before going on to sexually assault two women a few years later was found guilty and sent to prison for just over three years. Now lawyers are arguing before the Supreme Court about whether he should have been sentenced as a youth, based on his age when he first offended, or as a grown man when he was convicted at the age of 21. His lawyers say he was a child when he offended and should have been dealt with as such by the courts. But lawyers for the Crown say he turned out to be a repeat sexual offender with no remorse, who assaulted two more young women when he was 18. The outcome of the case could determine if he will be sent back to prison - he is currently out on bail - or if he receives a community-based sentence and rehabilitation. The young man's name, personal details, and the identities of his victims are all suppressed. The rape victim was older than him. One of the other two women he went on to offend against several years later was older, the other younger. His first victim had consumed alcohol and drugs before the young man, at that time just 15 years old, gave her sleeping pills. She was unable to stay alert, and he raped her. The offending against the other two women happened when he was 18. The women each awoke to find him sexually assaulting them. The offences came to light later on and the young man, by then an adult, was charged in respect of all three women at the same time - one charge of rape and two of unlawful sexual connection. He admitted the lesser sexual connection charges on the morning his trial was due to begin and was found guilty of the rape by a jury two days later. He was 21 years old when convicted, and was sentenced in a district court to three years and four months in prison after the judge took the rape as the most serious and "lead" offence. He is now appealing against that sentence. His lawyers, Letizea Ord and Emily Blincoe, say that if he had been charged with rape close to the time he committed it, he would probably have been dealt with in the youth justice system, for offenders aged 17 and under. The emphasis in the Youth Court is on rehabilitation. In their submissions his lawyers say it was "highly unlikely" that he would have been sent to prison had he been dealt with there. They say that the two charges of unlawful sexual connection, which would have been dealt with in an adult court, would not have attracted a sentence of imprisonment on their own. They also say that the community would be safer if he were dealt with outside the prison system, with specialist treatment, because no targeted youth sexual offender programmes are available behind bars. Ord and Blincoe argue that New Zealand is an "outlier" in how it deals with offences committed by minors but uncovered later. In England and Wales, an offender's age at conviction is specified in law, but sentencing guidelines are based on the outcome that was likely to have been applied at the date of the offence, and prison is a "last resort". The Australian states take a similar approach, and Canada has a law which says that youth justice legislation applies to all offending committed under the age of 18, regardless of when charges are laid. However, the Crown Law Office said New Zealand law did not support sentencing outcomes in such cases that disregarded the legislation and methodology of the adult courts in favour of the processes governing the "intensely specialised" Youth Court. "The appeal also requires the [Supreme] Court to engage with an artificial factual scenario: to treat [the appellant] as though he was still 15 years old for the purpose of sentencing," the Crown submissions to the court said. "That ignores the reality of the case before the court: a 22-year-old repeat sexual violation offender who denied any wrongdoing and remained unremorseful at sentencing. One who, up until the time this court granted him bail, had taken no steps towards rehabilitation." The young man has so far spent 13 months in custody. He has engaged in rehabilitation since being bailed. The Supreme Court will begin hearing his case on Tuesday. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
RNZ News
18-05-2025
- RNZ News
Woman who planned armed robbery avoids 501 deportation from Australia, partly due to children
By Ric Stevens, Open Justice reporter of Photo: RNZ A New Zealand woman with a history of abuse and addiction who helped plan an armed robbery in Melbourne will not be deported from Australia, partly because of the impact on her three young children there. The woman was sentenced to three years and four months in prison in 2023 on one count of armed robbery, making her liable for a "501″ deportation from Australia. But three of her six children in Australia are still minors, and their interests were taken into account when a tribunal considered whether her visa should be revoked. The Administrative Review Tribunal of Australia was told that the woman, who was born in New Zealand, was a ward of state before she was a year old, but was returned to her violent and alcoholic father at the age of 5. At the age of 7, she was sexually abused by a person known to the family. The woman, whose name is suppressed, moved to Australia with her first partner and their three children in 2006 and has not returned to New Zealand. Her three oldest children are now adults and live independently. When the couple separated, the woman began a relationship with another man, who had gang ties and who has since died. With that partner, the woman had children who are currently aged 11, 9 and 7 and were placed in the care of a grandparent when she was charged with the robbery. The tribunal was told the woman experienced "horrific" domestic violence from her second partner, and that she and the children were homeless at times. When she was sentenced, the court was told the woman had PTSD from her childhood abuse and the violence in her relationships. She also had symptoms of depression and anxiety, and her drug abuse was partly to numb memories of past trauma, emotional disconnection, feelings of hopelessness, sleep disturbance, difficulty concentrating, irritability and "reckless and self-destructive behaviour". In 2019, the woman helped a co-offender plan an armed robbery at her former workplace. She allowed the co-offender to use her car to drive to the place being robbed, and shared in the financial proceeds. The woman was not directly involved in the execution of the crime itself, but the tribunal said it was satisfied it was a "serious armed robbery". It involved a forced entry, use of a firearm or imitation firearm, and direct confrontation with two staff members. However, the tribunal said the woman had no criminal history, and did not reoffend during the four years she was on bail before being sent to prison. The tribunal also accepted that the woman had undergone "intense" rehabilitation to address her mental health and addiction issues involving methamphetamine and cannabis. "The tribunal accepts the evidence of the applicant that she has overcome her drug addiction and is committed to remaining drug-free," tribunal senior member Margaret Bourke said. Bourke said that deportation would cause "hardship and emotional harm" to all of the woman's children, not just the three who were still minors and Australian citizens. The younger children have visited the woman fortnightly while she has been in prison. "The tribunal accepts that the three children love and miss their mother ... when the applicant is able, and has proven she is capable, they plan that the three children will live with her again," Bourke said. The woman also feared if she was sent back to New Zealand, she would be harmed by her co-offender in the robbery, who has already been deported, and members of the gang with which her second partner was affiliated. The tribunal found the woman failed the "character test" under Section 501 of the Australian Migration Act - the legal provision that gave its name to the thousands of New Zealanders who have been deported, who are known as "501s". However, Bourke found the combined weight of the younger children's interests, along with the strength and nature of the woman's ties to Australia, weighed in favour of revoking the cancellation of her visa. "The tribunal has assessed that the applicant has strong family and social ties to the Australian community and there are three minor children whose best interests would be affected by the decision to cancel the applicant's visa," the decision said. If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111. This story was first published by the New Zealand Herald .
RNZ News
03-05-2025
- RNZ News
Former drug-using league professional Dean Scott avoids 501 deportation from Australia
By Ric Stevens of Photo: PhotoSport A drug-using New Zealand citizen who went "cold turkey" and turned his life around during the five years his case took to work through the Australian justice system has avoided being deported as a 501. A tribunal looking into his case said his behaviour since 2017, when his family threatened to turn their backs on him if he didn't stop using drugs, has been exemplary. The man's name is Dean Hammond on his 1966 birth certificate but he is always known as Dean Scott, after his mother remarried when he was four. He lived in New Zealand until the age of 19, before moving to Australia in 1985 to pursue a career in rugby league. He went there on a scholarship with the Manly-Warringah league club in Sydney but failed to make the first-grade team and moved to Queensland. Scott then took up a contract with the Noosa Pirates league team on the Sunshine Coast. "From the moment he arrived in Australia, he was using drugs, particularly marijuana and speed," the Administrative Review Tribunal of Australia said in a recent decision. Scott remained a user of recreational drugs but managed to function well for years, both as a family man and a business owner after quitting professional league. However, the tribunal said "the rot set in" when he was introduced to methamphetamine. After he appeared in court on drug-related charges in 2009, his marriage broke up and his relationship with his children suffered. As his addiction spiralled out of control, he became involved in drug distribution. In 2011, Scott was asked to leave the family home. "He was no longer a reliable partner or parent, and he was a heavy and regular drug user," the tribunal decision said. In 2017, he was charged with trafficking in a dangerous drug, involvement in organised crime, six counts of perjury and several lesser drug-related offences. He was granted bail and remained on bail in the community for more than five years before he was eventually convicted and jailed in 2023. Because he was sent to prison for more than 12 months, his visa to be in Australia was cancelled on 19 May 2023, opening the way for his deportation under Section 501 of the Australian Migration Act. Thousands of New Zealanders who have criminal records have been deported under this provision and are collectively known as "501s". Scott appealed against his visa revocation to the Australian Review Tribunal, which weighed up the factors for and against forcing him to leave Australia. It noted that during those more than five years on bail, between being charged in 2017 and being convicted and imprisoned in 2023, Scott went and saw his former partner and asked for her help. She said she would help, but only if he stopped using drugs. If he did not, the family would "turn their back on him". The tribunal decision said this had a "stunning effect" on him and he turned his life around. He immediately went "cold turkey". He told the tribunal he had not used illicit drugs since and even avoids painkillers such as paracetamol. The tribunal said he was regularly drug-tested and never failed a test. His family and other people who know him are all "certain" he has not touched drugs since 2017. Scott began working up to 70 hours a week for an asphalt company and arranged for his ex to take over his finances, giving him a small amount to live on. He reconnected with his children, one of whom drove him to a rehabilitation programme. A grandchild was born a few weeks before he went to prison. "He had more than five years to commit further offences but did not do so," the tribunal decision said. "His behaviour since November 2017 has been exemplary. "There was a trend of increasing seriousness in his criminal offending, but that trend came to an abrupt halt in 2017." Tribunal deputy president Damien O'Donovan said he was satisfied the risk of Scott engaging in further serious criminal behaviour was "very low". O'Donovan said Scott has two adult children and two grandchildren to whom he is close. "While he did everything he possibly could to ruin his relationship with them [his children] and their mother when he was addicted to drugs, the way in which he has gone about rebuilding those relationships is compelling," O'Donovan said. "The picture that emerges from the evidence is of a man with deep ties to the Australian community. "Deportation would remove him from every important relationship he has in the world." The tribunal reversed the revocation of Scott's visa. - This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.
