New Zealand - Charges against gang members withdrawn

OFF THE WIRE
Two members of the Lone Legion Motorcycle Club had their unlawful assembly charges dropped when they appeared in court and another member is denying charges laid against him in relation to the gang's 30th anniversary party in November.

Michael Benedict McGlynn, 38, a contractor of Renwick, Roger Owen Turnbull, 50, director of Legionnaires Ltd and Gregory Ferguson Cleland, 40, unemployed of Blenheim, appeared together in the dock at the Blenheim District Court yesterday.

The three were charged after the gang held a 30th anniversary party at their Stuart St warehouse on November 28 last year.

Cleland and Turnbull both had their charge of unlawful assembly withdrawn.

However, McGlynn has denied unlawful assembly, unlawfully being in an enclosed yard threatening behaviour likely to cause violence.

McGlynn was released on bail and a nominal date for a defended fixture was set for July 11.

Deal went sour

A Blenheim man has admitted his part in a cannabis deal in Kaikoura which went sour and ended in a fight.

Nioulini David Fotu, 26, admitted conspiring to sell cannabis when he appeared in the Blenheim District Court yesterday. He was sentenced to 110 hours' community work.



Police prosecutor Sergeant Graham Single said Fotu was at his home in Blenheim when an associate visited him about 1am on February 10. The associate told him he was going to Kaikoura to buy some cannabis. The pair met with two others and went to Kaikoura, but the deal was unsuccessful and a fight broke out, he said.

Fotu told the police he wanted to help get the money back that the group had paid for the cannabis.

Defence counsel Bryony Millar said Fotu was about to start an alcohol and drug rehabilitation programme at the St Marks society and wanted the charge dealt with before he began.

Fotu appeared voluntarily after not appearing in the Kaikoura District Court on Friday. Judge Tony Zohrab said it was difficult to tell Fotu's level of culpability because no mentions of weight or prices had been made in the police summary of facts.

String of charges

A Blenheim man on a string of theft and receiving charges was spared a jail sentence when he appeared in court yesterday.

Tadeuse Teel Wilson, 22, unemployed, admitted three thefts, three receiving, two unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, unlawfully taking a bike, possession of utensils to smoke cannabis, disorderly behaviour and breaching community work when he appeared in the Blenheim District Court.

The offences, some relating to a spate of car thefts in January, occurred between December 2010 and February this year.

He was sentenced to six months' community detention and 12 months' intensive supervision with judicial monitoring and given a final warning.

The supervision sentence included alcohol and drug counselling as well as a Tikanga Maori programme.

Judge Tony Zohrab said Wilson's extensive history in the Youth Court and now in the District Court would make it "quite easy" for him to send him to prison.

Defence counsel John Holdaway said Wilson was now more mature and willing to engage with rehabilitative programmes. He had not breached his 24-hour curfew since he was bailed in February which showed he was responsible, he said. He was also intelligent and someone who could contribute positively to society, he said.

Couldn't be bothered

A Blenheim teenager was opportunistic when he took a car from Picton because he could not be bothered walking to Blenheim, according to his lawyer.

Stanley Kooti Stone, 17, admitted unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and was given a 12-month suspended sentence when he appeared in the Blenheim District Court yesterday. Police prosecutor Sergeant Graham Single said Stone got off the ferry in Picton about 12.20am on May 16 and was heading towards Blenheim. He had no way to get there except to walk, he said.

He got tired of walking, so he decided to take a four-wheel-drive parked on a driveway.

The car owner called the police after hearing Stone start the vehicle using the keys which were in the ignition, he said.

The police stopped Stone in Spring Creek, where he told them he was trying to get to a friend's house in Blenheim and planned to leave the car in the central business district.

Defence counsel Bryony Millar said it was "opportunistic and silly behaviour". Stone had travelled from the North Island and now planned to stay in Blenheim to work in the vineyards. Judge Tony Zohrab said Stone's decision to take the car was stupid.

Dishonesty offences

Yolanda Roodhuyzen, 44, of Blenheim, admitted theft and was ordered to pay $60 to the Salvation Army.

Sarah Jean Deane, 18, of Seddon, admitted obtaining by deception and was ordered to pay $300 reparation.

Amanda Jane Marlow, 50, of Omaka, admitted shoplifting and was given nine months' supervision and ordered to pay $5.25 reparation.

Drug offences

Rex Brandon Caldwell, 42, of Blenheim, admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to complete 40 hours' community work.

Shodee Amy Dede Turner, 24, of Renwick, admitted possessing cannabis and possessing utensils to smoke cannabis and was ordered to complete 40 hours' community work.

Violence

Ame Henrietta Beatrice Millan, 25, admitted disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence and was ordered to complete 40 hours' community work.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/5079734/Charges-against-gang-members-withdrawn