$1000 bill for drunken caper

Tearau Wi Nathan Karena, 23, had been carousing at the hotel on November 1. When the place was empty Karena entered the building and found a locked freezer.

He ripped open the lid and started rummaging through the frozen goods before deciding what to steal.

The noise woke the owner, who grabbed Karena by the collar but was unable to stop him running off.

When Karena was caught he was charged with burglary, changed to theft at his sentencing in the Palmerston North District Court yesterday. He told police he was so drunk he could not recall breaking in, stealing the food and fleeing.

But Judge Jennifer Binns told him intoxicated memory blanks were no excuse. She ordered Karena to pay reparations of $1000.

- © Fairfax NZ News