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Simon Maude / Things
Whangārei District and the High Court where Jaymie Ursula Tuki’s appeal was heard.
A woman whose criminal history spans 155 convictions has avoided her latest jail sentence after a judge determined that the prison does nothing to dissuade her from committing a crime.
At the age of 34, Northlander Jaymie Ursula Tuki has already served 99 prison terms.
The mother of four’s most recent offense had to do with shoplifting and shoplifting.
In April 2019, Tuki stole two shirts from a store in Takapuna, Auckland. The following month, a bag was stolen from the Glenfield pools and Tuki was caught using credit cards that were in the bag to buy cigarettes.
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SUPPLIED / Things
Criminal defense attorney Anoushka Bloem.
During the following months there was more theft in a supermarket. Tuki also stole an honesty box from a store and cosmetics from a pharmacy.
She was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
However, his lawyer Anoushka Bloem appealed the case to the Whangārei High Court.
At her trial, published in April, Judge Rebecca Edwards said Tuki had initially told authorities that her crime was due to kleptomania.
However, he had recently admitted to having an addiction to methamphetamine.
She said that she had kept her methamphetamine problem a secret because she did not want to lose her children.
A writer for the Corrections report noted that Tuki had suffered trauma throughout his life, including the death of his father at the hands of his mother.
She was recently given an electronically controlled bail after finding her friend and cellmate dead by suicide in prison.
Judge Edwards said Tuki had moved from Auckland to Northland to get away from friends who were a negative influence on his life.
He had also enrolled in a drug and alcohol program, although his attendance had been sporadic.
Bloem successfully argued that the district court judge who sentenced his client had failed to grant adequate discounts for his early guilty plea.
There was also no discount for the four months he spent on bail.
Judge Edwards said that while a short period of incarceration was the most effective short-term measure to protect the community, the prison had been “ineffective” in preventing Tuki from re-offending once released.
“Therefore, a prison sentence does not deter Ms. Tuki or protect the public from long-term harm.”
Instead, a house arrest sentence would allow Tuki to continue his drug rehab program, Judge Edwards said.
“Addressing the underlying causes of your crime may be the best opportunity to break the cycle of crime and incarceration, thereby protecting the community from harm.”
Judge Edwards noted that since Tuki was sentenced to prison, the country had entered a coronavirus blockade, and Tuki’s proposed home detention address may not be available.
She asked Corrections to review it again.
Things He understands that it has not been carried out yet and Tuki is still in prison.
