A car thief would prefer to remain incarcerated after accepting he cannot rehabilitate himself.
On his release from prison in December last year, Zane Taitoa Currie, 28, was faced with two options: go home for Christmas or head to a 21st birthday party — he chose the latter.
Drugs and alcohol tempted Currie back to his old ways, leading him to abandon his new-found sobriety, the Dunedin District Court heard this week.
"He is a different person when he’s in jail because he is sober," counsel Nathan Laws said.
"He suffers from poly-substance abuse — there is no secret about that. Staying sober is the key for him."
Currie’s previous jail term was handed down after he cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet while on community detention, breaching his court-ordered sentence.
Mr Laws pointed out to Judge Jim Large: "You sentenced him in May last year."
"Did it work?" the judge asked.
"No," Mr Laws said.
"Silly me," Judge Large said.
On January 9, he stayed at a friend’s house.
Before the woman awoke, Currie rummaged through her purse, stealing cigarettes, a cellphone and the keys to her car — driving the vehicle back to his home in Taieri Mouth.
Three days later, Currie noted a vehicle parked in a neighbouring driveway.
The keys were in the vehicle, so he took it — along with $6184 of tools.
Two months later, Currie received a stolen vehicle valued at $30,000, before driving it to a petrol station and helping himself to fuel, a cellphone charger and six chocolate bars.
"He takes the vehicles for transport rather than to enrich himself ... not that the court will have ever seen a rich car thief," Mr Laws said.
Currie was also convicted of two charges of disqualified driving, breaching release conditions and possessing methamphetamine (0.8g).
When spoken to by police, Currie took responsibility for his crimes, receiving credit for his early guilty pleas. The man told his lawyer "drugs and alcohol are ruining my life".
"He wants to have more time in custody to prepare for his release, to make sure it works," Mr Laws said.
Currie appeared genuinely remorseful and "ready to change", the court heard.
"To be fair to you, you do seem to have been quite frank and open," Judge Large said.
"It’s best not to send young men to jail, but you accept it’s the best opportunity available to you."
Currie was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment, disqualified from driving for a further two years and ordered to pay $4319 reparation.
