'Craving for drugs’

Press, 30 November 1978, Page 7

'Craving for drugs’

- - x Mr M. J. Glue, for Brad-1 ley, said that the prisoner' appeared on a multiplicity! ! of charges, some of which; iwere extremely grave. Hej ; had escaped from prison be-; cause he had been taking large quantities of drugs. He had a long history of drug abuse and he claimed that | he had no clear recollection! I of the precise details of the' assault and robbery. The sad fact was that [since 1968 Bradley had been ; offending consistently and ■ had been at liberty for only 11 brief periods. It was considI'ered that his problem was | psychological rather than; 11 criminal. He had been de- : i pressed and suicidal. > Bradley had offended be-i 1 cause of his craving for drugs and he claimed that > his drug supplier had assist--1 ed him in planning the robberies. If that was true it, | was an example of the in-| > iquity of drug traffiking. I Bradley had said that he . owed a tremendous amount ; to a drug dealer for heroin and cocaine and because of r the pressure put on him he /had been driven to offend. /When he had committed the i offences he had been under /the influence of narcotics. That was compelling proof of the utter horror of the drug trade. By facing up to his responsibilities and pleading guilty to all the charges Bradley had saved the country the expense of a trial/ |Mr Glue said. His Honour . said that it | was quite a tragedy that! Ngarimu appeared before the Court at the age of 19 on I these most serious charges. His probation report made : very dismal reading and it had to be accepted that society had failed Ngarimu at a very early age. ’ “I accept that all this I offending probably resulted ! from your involvement with I drugs, and indeed your couni sei suggests that there is an : even more sinister aspect, namely that it was the drug

dealer who organised the of-; fending so that you could pay for your drugs,” said his Honour. Hopefully something could i be done for Ngarimu while] I he was in prison, but at this j stage rehabilitation was of ; secondary importance. It . was the protection of the 'public which had to be the Court’s concern. “Although your previous list of convictions is not as bad as Bradley’s and you [are a little younger, your ofI fending was more serious, j During the aggravated rob-; Ibery of Mrs Gibson in the, Carlton Hotel, you attacked her, threw a coat over her head, and when she attempted to raise the alarm she was knocked to the [floor and cash and cheques! lover $lOOO were taken,” said; his Honour. When Miss Henwood disturbed Ngarimu and another person removed money from the till she was struck on the head — all for $4O. He' was also involved in the ag[gravated robbery of Mr Pi-; lhama, and also of Mr jChettle at the Caledonian [ Hotel, said his Honour. The more serious of Bradley’s offences involved the robbery of Mr Pihama who was driven to the Cashmere: Hills, knocked unconscious! land robbed, and the robbery! [of Mr Chettle at the Caledonian Hotel when Bradley and two others assaulted the barman with fists and a bottle and made off with the cash register. Then there was the con-; spiracy to rob the ham-i

; burger bar in Papanui whenj Bradley was disturbed by a I security guard. He had! [admitted an intention to rob the hamburger bar using a' | shotgun and baseball bat if necessary. The probation officer’s report was sympathetic and so was he, his Honour said. It was a sad business that Bradley at his age should appear on such charges, but Bradley must realise that it was impossible to extend le-| niency. “The offences were most [serious and I accept that iyour drug-taking played a very important part in all this, which indicates the appalling effects of drugs,” said his Honour. The protection of the pubI lie was the important consideration. Hopefully something could be done for Bradley while he was in prison, because at 22 it was too earlv to say that he was incapable of rehabilitation, 'said his Honour. Sentencing Tuira his Honour said that he regarded the charge of wounding ! Prison Officer Corbin as serious. “Ngarimu and Bradley were both involved in the same escape, but their asI saults on prison officers 'were quite minor. In your [case you struck Officer Corbin with a length of pipe wrapped in a singlet and he required medical attention and stitches to the head wound. You have been coni victed before of attempting [to escape from custody,” his i Honour said.