A man who committed 14 burglaries and 14 thefts at Dunedin Hospital, while working there as a security guard and a records clerk, has been sentenced to eight months' home detention.
Visesio Segaula Seufatu (36), employed, now of Auckland, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after earlier admitting all 28 offences.
He was charged with committing the burglaries between November 2005 and October last year, and the thefts between January 2000 and October last year.
Judge Brooke Gibson, of Auckland, described the offending as "a gross abuse of trust", "pre-meditated" and "systemic".
However, he noted Seufatu had no previous convictions.
The police summary of facts said Seufatu was employed as a security guard at the hospital in December 1996 and worked in that position for about 10 years until he transferred to the clerical records department in 2006.
He worked there until his arrest last October.
In both positions, Seufatu preferred the permanent night-shift roster.
Under the guise of legitimate duties, he was able to walk through all wards, departments and buildings used by the Otago District Health Board, because he had access to master keys and swipe cards.
After several thefts throughout the hospital, covert cameras were employed.
On October 15, one of the cameras caught Seufatu, disguised in a "hoodie", under cover of darkness and using a torch, stealing items from an eighth-floor office.
A subsequent search of his house revealed property stolen from the health board over several years.
Seufatu used a master key or master swipe card to unlawfully enter locked offices, the children's outpatient ward, various other wards, and the hospital's early childhood centre.
He took items including four digital cameras, three headphones, a set of medical scales, a large plastic pirate ship, a collection of plastic animals, postage stamps, a web camera, a flat screen computer monitor, a digital recorder and a set of digital scales.
Goods taken in the thefts included medical supplies, stationery, items (mainly books) from promotional displays, DVD players, unfiled patient records (including unopened diagnostic reports) and chocolate drink, coffee and biscuits.
Seufatu stated he was not sure why he stole the items but that a lot of it was for his children and there was no excuse for his behaviour.
