GANG MEMBER DYLAN JAMES ANDERSON APPEALING SENTENCE FOR FRACAS OUTSIDE WELLINGTON HIGH COURT
A gang member who wants his jailtime reduced to home detention says he wasn’t spoken to for a presentence report used to determine his sentence.
Dylan James Anderson, 27, was jailed for 12 months in May for his part in a fracas outside the High Court at Wellington High earlier this year.
Today in the same court, Anderson’s lawyer Hugo Porter appealed his sentence, arguing Judge Nicola Wills erred by not imposing the least restrictive sentence and should have sentenced his client to home detention, rather than jail.
Porter said two presentence report were prepared for his client’s sentencing, the first in late April and the second In May, just days before his sentencing - but the second report writer never spoke to his client.
“I have never seen that before. That is highly unusual to have a three-page report and also for the report writer to never speak to the defendant. That is highly, highly unusual,” he said.
Porter said the writer of the first report was unable to get hold of the man’s partner. The second report didn’t even include a telephone call, let alone a meeting with his client.
Justice Christine Gordon pointed out the reports were only a couple of weeks apart and the first report writer had spoken to the defendant.
But Porter said they were different report writers.
“When undertaking a risk assessment, you would think it would be rather prudent and important to speak to the person.”
The second report was obviously the one the judge placed weight on and considerable weight at that, he said.
For the Crown, Rachel Bedggood said while Judge Wills had taken the presentence report into account, she hadn’t solely relied on it.
She also considered the home detention address wasn’t appropriate due to Anderson’s past history of violence - particularly to his partners - and the cramped nature of the address.
“There is a risk of Anderson taking out any frustrations he may have about his circumstances and his confinement on the occupants of that address,” she said.
Bedggood agreed while there had been some time since his last offence, his current offending involved impulsive behaviour and a degree of violence, which indicated there was cause for concern in Anderson lashing out.
According to the summary of facts, Anderson was at the High Court in February where three people were facing charges in relation to the murder of Stokes Valley man Rawiri Wharerau.
Anderson was supporting members of the dead man’s family, while the victims were there to support the defendants.
As a defendant was taken back to the cells, people in the public gallery yelled at the man, sparking the brawl, which briefly closed the court.
The fracas continued outside the courthouse, resulting in the arrival of armed police who closed Molesworth Street directly outside Parliament.
Anderson - who has a large fist tattooed on each cheek - was a member of the Mangu Kaha gang, a splinter group of Black Power.
He and his associates were outside the courthouse when they approached two men who were members of a rival gang.
Anderson kicked one of the men, causing him to fall to the ground, before kicking him again in the head. The victim lost consciousness and was concussed.
Porter told today’s appeal his client’s latest offending was unusual and unlikely to be repeated.
He said the judge’s refusal to grant home detention appeared to be based on risk, but Anderson had lived with his current partner at the address for two years, with no reported incidents of violence or police callouts.
He said his client’s last conviction for family violence was in 2016, some eight years ago when he was 19.
“In terms of a young man’s brain development, that was a lifetime ago.”
Justice Gordon reserved her decision.
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media advisor at the Ministry of Justice.
