There is slow, and then there is Judge Nikora.
The 29-year-old appeared in the Alexandra District Court on Wednesday on a charge of breaching his sentence of 40 hours’ community work, a term he received at the end of 2017.
Over more than two years, Nikora has done 23½ hours of his sentence, which was originally imposed to clear fines he owed.
That means the defendant is averaging about one hour of community work a month.
People on a community work sentence are expected to complete 100 hours of their sentence every six months, or they are liable to be breached.
Yesterday, at the Alexandra District Court, Judge Nikora came face to face with another judge - Judge Dominic Flatley - who was shocked by the man’s blase approach.
"Do you think there should be no response to your offending?" he asked.
"It’s up to you," the defendant replied.
Nikora was surprised to hear he was in such hot water over his inaction.
"People who breach go to prison," Judge Flatley said.
"It’s a serious sentence of the court."
"Oh," Nikora said.
In April 2018, he was brought before the court in an attempt to bring home the seriousness of the predicament.
Nikora was told to finish his hours by the following month.
He was last seen by Probation staff in September 2018.
Fast forward 17 months and Nikora, now working in Central Otago, was back to square one.
Judge Flatley cancelled the previous sentence and reimposed 40 hours’ community work.
And he warned the defendant against any further stalling.
"If you don’t do it, you’ll be breached immediately and you’ll go to prison," he said.
