Man plied girls with drugs

Photo: ODT files
Photo: ODT files
A Mosgiel man who plied two girls - one just 12 years old - with alcohol and methamphetamine has been jailed for more than two years.

Te Maipi Adams (42) appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week on three charges of supplying cannabis to under-18s and two of supplying methamphetamine.

He pleaded guilty to the charges after other serious allegations had been dropped.

On September 15, a 14-year-old girl went to Adams’ home, looking for cannabis.

They "spotted" the class-C drug using knives and a blow torch then went to buy a pizza, the court heard.

The girl later left to meet her 12-year-old friend and a few hours later they returned to Adams’ house.

In his bedroom, the defendant gave the girls a can of pre-mixed bourbon and cola to share.

The younger victim told Adams her age.

"He said it was OK as long as she did not tell anyone," court documents said.

Adams gave the girls cannabis then they visited a local liquor store where he bought a bottle of vodka and another pre-mixed alcoholic drink.

Back home the defendant encouraged them to drink the spirit straight, "and held the bottle up while they were drinking, causing them to drink more".

As the day wore on, Adams offered them "crack".

He used a straw to put a small quantity of methamphetamine into a glass pipe and demonstrated how the drug was smoked.

The victims inhaled several times as Adams reloaded the pipe.

According to a summary of facts, the 12-year-old said she "couldn’t help herself and wanted more".

After consuming more alcohol, the girls left the address.

The younger victim had to be assisted to walk.

Police were later called when a witness saw the girls’ state of intoxication.

"One mother . . . said she had never seen a human being like this before," the police summary said.

"The other described her daughter on the side of the road as incoherent, kicking out and flailing her arms around."

Both were admitted to hospital and had to be restrained and sedated.

The court heard the younger victim was now taking medication to manage her sleep and anger issues, and used alcohol to "escape reality".

Adams could not explain why he had supplied the girls with illicit substances, and said he was unaware of their ages.

Judge David Robinson, however, said their youth would have been "patently obvious".

He acknowledged Adams’ childhood trauma, gang membership, unresolved grief, cultural deprivation and addiction all contributed to his crimes.

But the defendant had spent 10 years clean of drugs, which the judge said showed he was capable of abstinence.

Adams was jailed for two years and three months.

 

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