A methamphetamine-addicted “serial” shoplifter who punched a Rotorua supermarket worker in the face and threw a toolkit at a Mitre10 staff member has been jailed despite pleas to send him to the South Island for rehabilitation

In sentencing Dylan Leon Kahia to two years and seven months’ prison, Judge John McDonald said too often shopkeepers and workers were violently verbally abused or assaulted by shoplifters who thought it was their right to take whatever they wanted.

Judge McDonald said Kahia had failed before when he had promised to get clean from methamphetamine and he wasn’t convinced this time would be different.

The sentencing came just days after data was released showing the number of reported incidents of retail crime in the Bay of Plenty doubled between 2018 and 2022, with a 33 per cent jump from 2021 to 2022 alone.

Between March 26 and July 15 last year, Kahia committed 10 shoplifting offences in Taupō, Rotorua and Tauranga; one burglary offence and an assault. He also breached his supervision and breached his bail twice by failing to turn up to court.

The judge described the offending as a “shoplifting spree”.

Kahia, 32, appeared in the Rotorua District Court for sentencing last week after previously pleading guilty to 15 charges.

The shoplifting included eight charges of stealing items valued under $500, one charge of stealing items valued between $500 and $1000 and one charge of stealing items worth more than $1000.

Judge McDonald outlined the details in court, saying Kahia stole an expensive jacket, groceries and power tools from Taupō Hunting & Fishing, Mitre 10 and Pak’nSave stores.

At Mitre 10, Kahia was chased by a worker when he failed to pay for two power tools - a brushless toolkit worth $1099 and two-piece toolkit worth $179. Kahia swore at the worker and threw the most expensive item at them.

The burglary related to sneaking into the back of Dixie Browns Café in Taupō and stealing meat worth $270.

Kahia then went to Rotorua and targeted Rebel Sport, where he got clothing valued at $449.

In Tauranga, he stole nearly $90 worth of groceries from Pak’nSave.

He came back to Rotorua and targeted Rebel Sport again, but was arrested.

Upon his release, Kahia went to Bunnings in Rotorua, put a planer valued at $369 in his backpack and left without paying.

The assault happened at Westend New World on June 28 just before midday when he walked through a self-checkout without paying and was intercepted by a store worker.

“Instead of just dropping what you had stolen, you turned around and punched the shopkeeper in the face. Luckily there was no serious injury to that man.”

Kaiha breached his intense supervision for his earlier shoplifting offences imposed on him to help him get on top of his methamphetamine addiction.

“You failed. Within 72 hours of being sentenced, you failed to report as directed and haven’t done your supervision, and on two occasions you have failed to turn up to court.”

Kahia’s lawyer, Douglas Hall, said his client had a “very strong methamphetamine addiction”.

Hall said despite Kahia failing each time he had previously tried to quit drugs, he was now keen to go to the Odyssey House rehabilitation programme in Christchurch, where he had a confirmed bed from June 20. The only way he could do this was if Judge McDonald agreed to a prison term of less than two years.

Hall said given Kahia had already done nine months on remand in custody, a sentence of less than two years would see him released by June 20. Hall suggested the judge could make attending Odyssey House’s programme a condition of his release. Home detention wasn’t an option as he didn’t have a suitable address.

Hall said his pre-sentence report was mixed, but he displayed traits associated with methamphetamine such as being “transient, erratic and sporadic”.

Judge McDonald considered Hall’s suggestion but said given his previous record, “in my view you won’t turn up, and if you do, you won’t stay the distance”.

“Not only did you steal from the shop, but you punched someone. Shopkeepers and others employed in shops should be able to go to work in the knowledge they’re not going to be bashed.

“Far too often people who steal from shops - thieves - when confronted, don’t just say ‘yes, you caught me, here’s the stuff back’ and walk away. More often than not now, they are verbally violent towards shopkeepers or they assault them, almost as if they, the thieves, have the right to pick up whatever they want and leave without paying. You fit into that category.”

Judge McDonald described him as a “serial” shoplifter who had an “appalling” list of previous convictions.

“It is a personal matter if you wish to continue to take methamphetamine and be addicted to it, but it becomes a community matter when [while] addicted to methamphetamine, you commit offences against other members of the community.”

He said a pre-sentence report said he had a high sense of entitlement.

“You lack consequential thinking and shift blame to others - [it’s] never your fault.”

Taking into account a 20 per cent reduction for guilty pleas and 10 per cent reduction for issues raised in a cultural report, Judge McDonald handed down an end sentence of two years and seven months’ imprisonment.