“The punitive aspect of the sentence has effectively already been served,” he argued, noting that his client’s behaviour had been influenced in part by a constellation of mental health issues ranging from anxiety to autism spectrum disorder.
The judge, however, was unpersuaded.
“Let’s be quite frank about it,” he replied. “What sort of message does it send the community at large if a person commits offences like this and ends up with community supervision?”
He ordered 20 months’ imprisonment and placement on the sex offender registry, noting that Howell is likely to be released immediately for time served. He also acknowledged that the registry would have no effect if Howell is returned to the UK.
Two months, four victims
Howell’s first offence took place in October 2024, when he entered the women’s bathroom at the Auckland Central hostel where he was staying and lifted his phone above a shower cubicle door to film a stranger.
The woman yelled out when she noticed the phone, and Howell was charged with making an intimate visual recording, which is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.
Between January and February 2025, while on bail for the first incident, he used his campervan to embark on an indecency spree in which he exposed himself to three women and a 13-year-old student.
The first victim, 28, was targeted while walking down a road in Wellington. Howell followed her in his van, driving at a walking speed. Due to an incline of the street, the pedestrian could see inside the vehicle. He had his pants down to his knees and was masturbating while staring at her, court documents state.
He then drove off slowly when the woman stopped walking.
The next incident involved two young women, aged 21 and 22, who had been freedom camping in a carpark opposite Auckland’s Cox Bay Reserve.
“While both victims have been standing on the roadside, the defendant has driven past, seen them and immediately turned into the carpark,” the summary of facts said. “The defendant has parked his vehicle one carpark away from the victims’ vehicle.”
He briefly greeted the women as they returned to their vehicle, then went into his own van. A short time later, the women saw that he had turned on the interior lights of his vehicle and opened the curtains. He was again touching himself.
Feeling scared and uncomfortable, the women left the carpark immediately and rang police. Howell spoke to officers then left the area.
His offending escalated just five days later when he drove past a 13-year-old girl in a school uniform who had just got off a bus in Epsom.
He parked his van on the wrong side of the road so he’d be as close as possible to the girl as she walked down the footpath. He looked directly at her as he began playing with his exposed genitals, court documents state.
This photograph of David Howell’s vehicle was released by police in February 2025 as they tried to identify a man accused of indecently exposing himself to an Auckland schoolgirl. Photo / NZ Police
“The victim …. began running to get away in fear, but the defendant followed her in his van matching her pace.”
The pursuit continued for about 200 metres until the girl walked into a property to ask for help.
He was charged with three counts of doing an indecent act, punishable by up to three months’ imprisonment.
‘Naughty at work’
Six months later, in July 2025, an officer with the police Covert Online Team began communicating with Howell via Snapchat after receiving a tip that he was posing a risk to children. The officer pretended to be a 14-year-old girl named Mandy.
Over six days, Howell claimed to be 22 years old and repeatedly pressured Mandy to send him photos of herself. He asked to move the conversation to an encrypted platform because Snapchat wasn’t “safe” and he “didn’t want to get in trouble”.
“Thinking of you,” he wrote the following day in a message that included a photo of his naked torso.
He asked Mandy explicit questions about sex before suggesting he send her a photo of his penis. He also suggested he could be her boyfriend and invited her for a ride in his van. If they dated, he promised, he would take her anywhere and pay for everything.
“I’m still only 14!” the undercover officer responded.
British teacher David Howell, who was employed as a reliever at Auckland schools while on a working holiday, appears in Auckland District Court after pleading guilty to a slew of sexual offences. Photo / Michael Craig
Despite receiving a note from Mandy that she didn’t want to exchange nude photos, Howell sent a photo of his penis anyway, followed by a video of him masturbating. The officer posing as Mandy said she was awkward and shy about such things. Howell encouraged her to send a photo anyway.
The next day he again offered to pick her up, trying to lure her with a shopping spree: “Jewellery, clothes, shoes, whatever you want, baby.” He sent more lewd images of himself, claiming he was “being naughty at work thinking about you now”.
As a result of the conversations, Howell was charged with indecent conversations with a young person. Police added a charge of grooming for sexual conduct with a young person, based on his explicit description of sexual activities he wanted to do with her.
Both charges carry maximum punishments of three years’ imprisonment.
“Hmm, don’t think so soz [sorry], I’m really shy,” Mandy had responded to the request for sexual activity.
The defendant remained undaunted.
“I want to make love to you, baby,” he messaged back before sending another explicit video and asking if he could visit her home.
The next day, he ended the conversations, explaining that it was because he hadn’t yet received a photo of her and couldn’t be sure that she was real. He repeated that he didn’t want to get into trouble because she was too young.
‘Devastating’ impact
None of the victims attended this week’s hearing, but three of them submitted impact statements that were referred to at length by the judge.
The 13-year-old recalled how she couldn’t go to school for a while because she felt unsafe.
In a separate statement, her mother recalled how the girl became withdrawn, anxious and unable to ride the bus or leave their home on her own. The impact had been “devastating”.
“There were occasions when she woke up at night crying,” the judge said, summarising the mother’s statement.
The two freedom campers told the court they felt violated and outraged by Howell’s behaviour. The elder said she had been touring the North Island at the time and had always felt safe and welcomed in New Zealand until the incident. It tainted her trip with stress and anxiety, she said.
The 22-year-old, meanwhile, characterised Howell’s behaviour as “menacing and violent”.
‘A concerning fact’
At a sentencing indication hearing in October, Judge Bonnar had ordered a starting point of two years and four months’ imprisonment, with a reduction of five months for Howell’s guilty plea but an increase of two months for having offended while on bail.
At this week’s hearing, he allowed an additional five months of reductions for Howell’s longstanding mental health issues, his remorse and for his father’s offer of a $1000 emotional harm payment to each of the victims.
But converting the sentence to home detention or community detention would be a step too far, the judge concluded.
Defence lawyer Harrison Smith. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Howell’s lawyer had argued that being placed on the sex offender register could potentially exacerbate his client’s mental health issues and serve as a barrier to his rehabilitation. Because placement on the register is mandatory with prison sentences, but optional for non-custodial alternatives, he urged the judge to avoid a prison term, even if the result would be Howell’s immediate release.
Police prosecutor Charles Black opposed the defence proposal, suggesting that a sentence of home detention could possibly slow down the deportation process. He noted that Immigration New Zealand representatives were in the courtroom, and that a flight had been tentatively scheduled for Sunday.
While New Zealand’s sex offender register wouldn’t have any reach in the United Kingdom, placement on it would help to warn authorities overseas, Black suggested.
Judge Bonnar noted that a psychological report found Howell to be at above-average risk of sexual reoffending, although that could be mitigated if he sought treatment.
“You came to New Zealand to work and did go to work as a teacher. You were also a teacher in the United Kingdom,” the judge said. “It almost goes without saying that, given the nature of these offences, that is a concerning fact.”
Judge Stephen Bonnar. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
While a defendant’s rehabilitation was always an important factor to consider, the prime purpose of sentencing for such crimes must be to denounce the conduct and deter the defendant and others from repeating it, he said.
“I am firmly of the view that none of these [non-custodial] sentences would adequately address … the principles of sentencing that apply to this case.”
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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