A man who committed two armed robberies in a day is back behind bars after he was kicked out of a Dunedin rehabilitation facility.
James William Eddington (35) made headlines in 2015 for a pair of brazen hold-ups in Canterbury and a dramatic aftermath, during which he shot at police as they tried to apprehend him.
He was jailed for nine years, but was granted parole in March last year to attend the residential programme at Moana House.
The decision to allow him early release came despite a perceived "sense of entitlement" and the fact the inmate had been exited from specialist treatment for violent offenders, documents released to the Otago Daily Times revealed.
His family told the Parole Board they believed Eddington had reached "a turning point".
But that was evidently not the case.
On January 17 this year, Moana House withdrew its consent for him to reside there after allegations of bringing contraband — methamphetamine, cannabis and vapes — into the residence.
Eddington allegedly asked others to provide him with clean urine so he could pass drug tests and he also used a phone without permission.
His behaviour had "undermined the integrity of the programme", Moana House said.
Eddington appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week after admitting a charge of breaching the special conditions of his parole.
Judge Jim Large convicted and discharged the defendant because he had been recalled to the Otago Corrections Facility to continue serving his original sentence.
That term ends in February next year, so Eddington will see the Parole Board again in June.
The crimes that led to his incarceration took place on February 18, 2015, when his co-defendant Dionysia Keen drove him to Timaru’s Highfield Mall.
Brandishing a knife, Eddington entered a Post Shop and left with $2385 cash.
Just hours later, in Fairlie, he dashed into a service station wielding a .22 rifle complete with telescopic sight and silencer, and made off with $260 cash and tobacco.
When police finally caught up with Eddington near Pleasant Point, he responded by shooting at them.
He was apprehended on farm land with the help of a police dog. Most of the loot was recovered.
During an explosive display at the police station, Eddington head-butted an officer and attacked a doctor who was examining his dog-bite wounds.
"If I had a gun with me, I would have shot the dog," he told police.
At sentencing, Justice Rachel Dunningham noted Eddington had been a regular offender since 2003.
Reports written about the defendant painted a troubling picture of his prospects, she said.
"However, there are not indications in them that your prospects are irredeemably bleak."
She opted against imposing a sentence of preventive detention — an indeterminate prison term, which would effectively have seen him managed by Corrections for the rest of his life.
