Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
A man's burglary spree involving five Thames businesses cost tens of thousands of dollars and has landed him behind bars, however, a judge has been left with little choice but to rely on the offender's "promise" to pay the victims back.
Paradise Pets, Midami Sushi, Aeroview Gardens, Mitre 10 and The Warehouse were all hit by Brian Andrew Reuben between late January and mid-March this year, in offending apparently driven by his spiralling debt.
It remained unclear exactly how much the burglaries cost, not just in terms of what the 40-year-old stole, including cash and property, but the damage caused by his break-ins along with the impact on those who worked there.
That cost was even higher than Judge Tini Clark estimated yesterday at the Hamilton District Court after reading two victim impact statements - from Mitre 10 and The Warehouse staff- who each put the cost at about $20,000.
"Can I just say for the victims of your offences that I really wish that I could do more for them because everyone is struggling at the moment.
"Things just seem to be getting harder for businesses and these are now five businesses, who through no fault of their own, have really suffered financially."
For Mitre 10, the $20,000 covered the loss of earnings and damages, while the offending itself still affected the business.
"It came at a difficult time in a difficult environment and the implication being that the cost won't be covered," Judge Clark said.
It was the same at The Warehouse, however, there was additional harm to staff members as suspicion was cast among them about who could have been the burglar, "creating unnecessary stress".
Given Reuben was facing a jail term and did not have a job, Judge Clark said she simply did not consider that he was in a realistic position to pay anything.
"Asking me to order you to pay reparation is all good and well but there's really no point if I don't consider that someone is in a position to pay.
"It's going to be for you, in the end, to come through with the promises that you made to victims at your Restorative Justice conferences.
"They may have been empty promises, I don't know Mr Reuben.
"I can see that in relation to the Aeroview Garden Centre, they wouldn't hold their breath in relation to reparation being paid, but what I don't want to do is to order reparation and you don't pay it and it somehow re-victimises these people who have already suffered."
Lawyer Charles Bean agreed his client was likely unable to pay, especially as his debt was "spiralling" at the time.
"He wishes to make amends and to apologise."
Proof of his remorse was the fact he was able to attend two Restorative Justice conferences while in custody.
"All I can say is, his apologies are genuine," Bean said.
While the judge said she had no doubt that he was genuinely sorry, she struggled to find his explanation, particularly regarding the garden centre, credible.
"What you are saying on the one hand is you were committing the burglary as a result of a debt that was owing, but on the other hand, you didn't want to commit a burglary and were trying to set off the burglar alarms which doesn't coincide with the way that you were behaving."
Reuben also appeared to be shifting the blame onto an associate and his brother, who owed the debt.
"The reality is, that you know you made your own decisions on these different nights and you got caught, that's what's happened."
She agreed to hand down discounts for his section 27 report on his upbringing which tied into his poor logic and problem-solving skills.
He was also given another 10 percent for attending Restorative Justice conferences along with 25 percent for his guilty pleas.
Reuben, who has been in custody since his arrest on 16 March, was jailed for 13-and-a-half months.
This story was originally published by the New Zealand Herald.