Thefts blamed on gang debts

A 33-year-old "career criminal" convicted of a series of Hamilton burglaries says his offending was driven by gang debts.

Harry Aaron Gordon, 33, was sentenced yesterday in the Hamilton District Court to three years' jail after earlier pleading guilty to four counts of burglary, four counts of unlawfully taking a vehicle and two of theft.

He also admitted three charges of breaching prison release conditions.

Between August and November last year, Gordon burgled four Hamilton homes and stole four vehicles in what Judge Robert Spear described as a "criminal mission".

About $10,500 worth of property was taken during Gordon's offending.

Judge Spear said Gordon's victims would have to carry the financial loss as the defendant's offer of reparation was "unrealistic".

The judge also expressed scepticism about Gordon's explanation that his offending was driven by the need to pay gang debts. "That of course is easy to say but hard to prove or disprove."

The judge, noting Gordon's 45 previous convictions for dishonesty, said the defendant presented as a "career criminal" and recidivist thief.

Gordon had distanced himself from those trying to help him in the community, the judge said, and his "so-called" gang difficulties were no excuse for his offending.

Gordon would be jailed every time he committed a burglary if only for the purpose of protecting the public, Judge Spear said.

- © Fairfax NZ News