Car Conversion, Damage Spree (Press, 11 February 1982)

On 11 February 1982, various cases were reported in the District Court relating to youth crime, indecent assault, and theft. An unemployed youth, Mark Leslie Tamete, aged 18, was sentenced after unlawfully taking multiple vehicles in Papanui and causing damage exceeding $1,000. His offences included five counts of unlawfully taking vehicles, one of unlawfully interfering with a vehicle, one of unlawfully entering a vehicle, and one of aggravated assault. The police noted that Tamete had used hard driving, ripping out radios, tampering with ignitions, and smashing windows to access the vehicles. His counsel, Mr W. Rosenberg, mentioned that the offences were committed alongside co-offenders and followed the death of Tamete's brother. However, Judge Frampton remarked that the crimes occurred over a month-long period and did not seem directly related to this personal tragedy. Due to the severity of the damage and Tamete's inability to make restitution, he was sentenced to corrective training and placed on probation for a year, with his driver’s licence cancelled for a year. In another case, Shane Michael Carter, a 17-year-old, unlawfully took a Zephyr car but changed his mind about crashing it due to his reluctance to damage the vehicle. He received a one-year probation sentence and had his driver's licence cancelled for six months for careless driving. Additionally, John Lewis Wahrlich, aged 25, faced charges of indecently assaulting a boy he had babysat. He climbed into bed with the child and committed the offence. The child's mother and friends sought "brutal justice" against Wahrlich before the police intervened. Judge Frampton sentenced him to 18 months on probation. Another defendant, who was seen having intercourse with a 14-year-old girl, faced charges of unlawful intercourse. This culminated in a pregnancy, and he initially misled his wife about the child's paternity but later confessed. He was remanded on bail for sentencing. Michael Albert Momo, aged 21, held his de facto wife at knife-point with a rope around her neck, demanding police assistance to reach a hospital. He pleaded guilty to the assault and was remanded on bail until 17 February for sentencing. Finally, Julie Rose Blincoe, a 24-year-old kitchen hand, received a suspended sentence for agreeing to sell a stolen video-cassette recorder worth $2,300. Her financial difficulties arose from a breakup and delays in her sickness benefit transfer. She received sympathy from the court due to her desperate situation, and an order was made for the return of the stolen property.

The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact

The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand