Chadwick faced an extra charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, after Judge Gordon Matenga found him guilty in a judge-alone trial in July.
Chadwick is no stranger to the court; at the time, he was on bail for the aggravated robbery of the Bankwood Rd dairy in January 2022, in which he and two others stormed a dairy, only to leave with a few ice creams each.
Chadwick was sentenced to 12 months of home detention for that in June last year.
‘Broke the front door to get in’
Neither the victims nor the offenders knew each other, and it remains unclear as to why the group turned up at the Bader home in Miru’s Subaru at 5.20pm on July 11, 2022.
At home with the main victim, who was having a nap at the time, were her two daughters, one of their boyfriends, and another friend.
Two of the men entered the house through the sliding door, while two others got in through the locked front door by breaking it, then brandishing screwdrivers at the victims.
They were then forced into two different rooms.
One victim grabbed her handbag, while Miru grabbed it off her, striking her in the face as he did so.
They then left, stealing a PlayStation 4, the distinctive hat, and the handbag which had cash, bank cards, an iPhone, a set of keys and other items.
Miru, 26, and Chadwick argued that they weren’t there that night and police had the wrong men, even though Chadwick was on electronically-monitored bail at the time.
The judge found otherwise.
‘It was a chance encounter, but sinister in nature’
Crown prosecutor Matthew Temm said while the incident didn’t happen at night, it was at 5.20pm in the middle of winter, and it was dark.
Temm also noted the “sinister” nature of Chadwick’s chance encounter with a victim of the offending after spotting her at Chartwell Mall, which resulted in the perverting course of justice charge.
“It has to be considered that the last time the victim saw the defendant, he was at her house … she knew he was an affiliated gang member, he has approached her, and he has accepted that he asked her about the trial.”
Temm also called for an uplift for Miru’s “significant” criminal history.
‘It was spontaneous and stupid’
Miru’s counsel, Gerard Walsh, said his client had hoped his family would be in court supporting him.
“But they have not arrived.”
Glen Prentice, for Chadwick, said his client accepted the victim felt “uneasy” when she bumped into him in an intimidating encounter at a shopping centre.
“His position is that it was really just an innocent conversation.
“Just a classic case of opening his mouth before he spoke.
“It’s not that serious, sir,” Prentice told the judge.
As for the offending, Chadwick had simply got in with the wrong crowd and done something “spontaneous and stupid”.
However, he was now a father to a young child and was motivated to serve his sentence and play a good role in the child’s life.
‘The victims are still anxious, on edge’
Judge Matenga said the offending was clearly premeditated; the offenders turned up in disguises and had weapons.
“There were four of you … there was some discussion and management of how it would go down.”
He said it must have been frightening for the victim’s daughter who first spied them at the kitchen window.
The victim and her daughter had said they felt anxious and on edge and had trouble sleeping.
“They keep ruminating on what happened and wonder what more could have been done.”
Meanwhile, the daughter kept beating herself up for not locking the ranch slider door.
As for identification, Chadwick had unsuccessfully “foiled” his EM bracelet, with cellphone and tracking data showing he was in the Bader area at the time.
His partner at the time had also identified him and noted a belt bag he’d been wearing was in his bedroom with a set of car keys, belonging to the victim, inside.
The stolen hat was also in his room.
Judge Matenga took a starting point of seven years, and for Miru, allowed discounts for youth, background, and time on electronically-monitored bail.
Miru was jailed for five years and 10 months.
As for Chadwick, the judge accepted he would have been surprised to see the victim at the shopping centre.
However, speaking to her would certainly have been intimidating for her.
“It was a more intimidating type of behaviour and tactic rather than anything else,” he said.
In jailing Chadwick for five years and seven months, Judge Matenga told the young man – who is now in his early 20s – that he was getting older, and it was “time you started to wake up and learn your lesson”.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.