“There was an innocent victim here.
“Their circumstances were probably not a lot better than yours.
“They needed a home. You have stolen from them.”
‘I wanted easy money’
Mullen, using the fake name Riley Simpson, listed the tiny home for sale on Facebook on October 29 last year for $3125.
The victim inquired and, believing it to be legitimate, agreed to buy it and duly transferred the money.
However, Mullen’s scam was exposed when she asked the victim for more money.
The next day, the victim received a call from Kiwi Bank, who confirmed she had been scammed and encouraged her to make a police report.
She never received the tiny home, nor did she get her money back.
Police investigated and traced the money through Mullen’s accounts, showing her transferring $1025 into her teen daughter’s account before withdrawing $1850 from an ATM in Enderley.
The next day, she withdrew $1020 from her daughter’s account.
When questioned by police, Mullen said she gave her account number to an unknown man “in exchange to get easy money”.
She admitted receiving the money and withdrawing it, but denied knowing anything about the Facebook ad or how she got the money.
‘Drugs are a pathway to hell’
Judge Collin told Mullen that this sort of offending “can’t happen”.
It was deliberate and involved a breach of trust.
“People who use websites for buying and selling have to trust that the [item] actually exists, and when they pay their money, they actually get their purchase.
“When it doesn’t exist, there’s a breach of trust.”
Like “so many” others who appeared before the court, Mullen had endured a difficult upbringing and “like pretty much everyone else” had difficulties with alcohol and drugs.
“The use of drugs is really a pathway to hell.
“It makes life difficult, it leads to criminal offending, and ultimately, if you are not careful, it will lead you to prison.”
He took a starting point of 11 months’ jail, before adding another two months for her two charges of breaching bail and another month for her criminal history, arriving at 14 months.
He then took off three months for her guilty pleas, and accepted her letter of remorse as genuine.
Judge Collin sentenced her to four months’ home detention and ordered her to pay reparation of $3215 at $20 per week.
After issuing her sentence, Judge Collin had a few more choice words to share with Mullen.
“You are running close to a term of imprisonment.
“You need to deal with your drug problem.
“I see you’ve used almost every drug that possibly can be imagined.”
He was pleased to see she had been to see Care NZ and urged her to accept all the help that was offered to her.
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.