The pair were due to be sentenced in the Hamilton District Court last month and, despite questioning, both denied knowing where the money was.
At their sentence indication hearing earlier this year, a police prosecutor believed it may be buried somewhere on the Coromandel Peninsula.
Judge Glen Marshall adjourned the case to give them time to recall where the money was, suggesting that if they could it would keep them out of prison.
This week, they returned to court on their burglary charges and, through affidavits, said they’d spent the money on debts, rent, vehicles and tangihanga.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.The heist
On May 31, last year, at 4.16pm, Ranford, 60, and his daughter parked outside Yukedas Party and Gift Store in Hillcrest.
The pair had slightly altered the registration plates of their Nissan Tiida by changing one of the numbers.
Dressed in all black, 26-year-old Daniela-Ranford, of Te Awamutu, got out of the car with her hood up.
She walked into the store and went straight to an ATM.
Jessie-Lee Daniela-Ranford, of Te Awamutu, and her father James Lindsay Ranford, of Hamilton, have both been sentenced to home detention. Photos / Belinda Feek
Daniela-Ranford entered two codes, which she had learned during her time with Armourguard, and removed five cash canisters containing $50 and $20 notes, court documents stated.
She then got into the back seat of the car and Ranford took off “at high speed”, heading east along Clyde St.
A short time later, the Nissan was set alight on Holland Rd, Eureka, on the outskirts of Hamilton.
The pair was later captured on CCTV at Z petrol station in Hautapu in a Mitsubishi Outlander, registered in Daniela-Radford’s name.
‘Desperation and irrational thinking’
At their sentencing, a police prosecutor said the burglary had caused significant harm to the community.
“I do find it quite hard to believe that the money has just evaporated on various debts and things and it would be the police submission that a sentence of imprisonment is appropriate,” she said.
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But Daniela-Ranford’s counsel, Jaiden Manera, pushed for 60% in discounts so the end sentence would fall within a range where home detention could be considered.
The pair were sentenced in Hamilton District Court.
He submitted that his client was the sole caregiver of her two children and if she was sent to prison it was “unclear what the childcare arrangements would be”.
She also had a clean criminal history, was subjected to childhood deprivation, qualified for a youth discount and was genuinely remorseful.
“It is clear that this offending is out of character for Ms Daniela-Ranford and, of course, it has all the hallmarks of desperation and perhaps irrational thinking,” he said.
“This offending has had a tremendous impact on her personal life … and has been a real wake-up call for her.”
She would also agree to pay a maximum of $40,000 in reparation, he said.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.‘It’s been spent’
Defence counsel Shelley Gilbert said Ranford, who lives in Hamilton, has terminal stage 4 bladder cancer, but no one was able to give a timeframe as to when he would go into hospice care and he remained on medication.
Although a pre-sentence report recommended the pair should be jailed, Gilbert said a clinical psychologist’s report stated that prison would be “inappropriate” for Ranford, given his condition.
“Mr Ranford would be a model home detention detainee and hoped to spend his remaining time with his grandchildren and daughter,” she said.
“As to the money? It has been spent.
“Is that acceptable? No, and Mr Ranford does not suggest that it is.”
He had bought $1500 to court as reparation but had earmarked that for his funeral, and Gilbert asked the judge to allow him to keep it for that purpose.
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“His particular concern is for his daughter.
“If he could do anything to take [the offending] back … if he could bring the money here today, he would have.”
The money went so quickly – judge
Judge Marshall accepted what the pair had stated in their affidavits – that at the time, there were tangihanga that the money went towards and “considerable debts” for Ranford’s substance abuse.
As for Daniela-Ranford, she admitted she’d received $40,000 but said she had spent it on debts and rent.
“It still is somewhat puzzling how so much money went so quickly,” the judge said.
However, given their respective circumstances, he agreed neither should go to jail.
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He sentenced both to 10 months’ home detention and ordered them each to pay a reparation of $20,000 in instalments.
Ranford was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.
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.