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A burglary victim with a remote video security system watched a 501 deportee moving through their house stealing things, including presents from under the Christmas tree.
Bilson Ewe, 25, was deported from Australia in 2019 for his criminal activity in that country, and has been sentenced four times in the New Zealand courts for his ongoing crimes since then.
He is now in prison and is described as a man with a "growing history of offending" by a High Court judge, who has turned down a bid for him to be released from jail and placed on home detention instead.
On 15 December last year, Ewe went with an 18-year-old accomplice to a residential property in Takanini, Auckland.
They rang the doorbell to check if anyone was home and, getting no reply, went to the rear of the property where a ranch slider was left unlocked.
The two men went in, took Christmas presents from under the tree, and then pushed the tree to the ground. They went through each of the bedrooms, pulling open drawers and taking personal belongings.
Unknown to them, the householder was watching on a remote camera system and called police.
The burglars' car was stopped as it was leaving the property. Police found about $1200 to $1500 worth of items in it, all of which were returned to the victim.
Ewe has clocked up 12 convictions in New Zealand since his return from Australia. They include unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, shoplifting, four burglaries, three counts of possessing a knife in a public place, and driving offences.
He was charged with further driving offences in February this year while on bail for the Christmas crime.
He failed to appear for sentencing on the burglary offence in March. He was involved in a family violence incident with his partner and breached a curfew in April.
In May, he punched a wall during an argument with his mother, who was providing his bail address.
"He threatened his mother, and she ran from the address into her car and locked the doors. The appellant followed and started kicking the car," according to the High Court judgment declining his home detention bid.
In addition to his New Zealand record, Ewe has three convictions in Australia for burglary and stealing a motor vehicle.
On 26 June this year, Ewe was sent to prison for 17 months by District Court Judge Robert Spear, who refused to grant leave for Ewe to apply for home detention.
"I need to impose a sentence on you that tells you in crystal clear terms that this behaviour is totally unacceptable; that you need to be held completely to account for it," Judge Spear said.
"You need to understand now that if you are caught after your release from prison committing any further burglaries, the sentence will be longer and that is going to happen unless you change your ways."
Ewe appealed Judge Spear's refusal to grant him leave to apply for home detention to the High Court.
His appeal was refused there by Justice Michele Wilkinson-Smith.
"I agree with the sentencing judge that targeting Christmas presents and pulling over a Christmas tree was a particularly unpleasant aspect of the offending," Justice Wilkinson-Smith said.
"Mr Ewe has received sentences of conviction and discharge; a suspended sentence; fines; reparation; supervision; returning offender order imprisonment; and parole," she said.
"Mr Ewe's previous history gives no indication at all that he is a good candidate for home detention, including at a rehabilitation facility."
People sentenced to less than two years in jail are released after serving half their sentence, meaning Ewe will be set free in about five months' time.
The High Court judgment did not specify how long Ewe had spent in Australia before being deported.
- This story originally appeared in the NZ Herald