A man who shoplifted three times at the outset of the Covid-19 lockdown claims it was the ‘‘most responsible’’ thing he could have done.
Matthew Thomas Robinson (47) appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week after pleading guilty to three counts of theft, as well as counts of offensive behaviour and trespass.
The circumstances, Judge Michael Turner acknowledged, were unusual.
The regular shoplifter was released from prison following a previous sentencing on March 24, and when the Level 4 lockdown began hours later he found himself homeless and penniless.
Counsel Deborah Henderson told the court her client could not go to Ministry of Social Development offices because they were shut.
It was the same story with the night shelter.
Robinson bedded down in the foyer of the police station, the court heard, but cold and hunger eventually took hold.
The defendant walked to a service station in Princes St, where he opened an energy drink in the store and began drinking it without paying.
When confronted he told staff he wanted coronavirus ‘‘and was waving his arms around and yelling’’, police said.
He planned to be arrested, Ms Henderson said, as a short-term fix for his problems.
But the plan failed.
Police summonsed him to appear in court and sent him on his way.
The next day, Robinson went to Countdown, just metres from the central police station, in Dunedin.
This time he opened a bottle of wine and began downing it in the middle of the supermarket.
Again, he was ‘‘very abusive’’.
But it was not enough to get him arrested.
He was again summonsed to a court hearing and released.
Hours later, Robinson followed a teenage girl through town yelling sexual inferences.
She ran off and a passing ambulance picked her up.
The defendant’s strange rampage continued.
He went to another shop, where he started consuming another soft drink.
Finally, he got his wish and was arrested.
‘‘It was the most responsible thing I could’ve done,’’ he said.
Judge Turner disagreed.
Robinson was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment and will be released imminently because of time spent on remand.
