This week they were sentenced in the Tauranga District Court.
On October 6, 2023, Robb and Puata turned up at a flat in Pāpāmoa to collect the money from Shrimpton and the woman, who can’t be named for legal reasons.
Shrimpton was told to get in the car; the woman had already been sent a text message from Robb, warning her to “get in the car and don’t speak unless spoken to, this is serious”.
They were driven around Pāpāmoa Beach, as Puata yelled and threatened the victims, “demanding repayment of the money”.
“The jury clearly found that both of those victims were held against their will and it’s clear to my mind that they remained in the car for fear of violence,” Judge Bill Lawson said.
The judge said it was clear from the context, and the text messages sent over a two-day period, that there was direct intimidation and an intent to intimidate over the recovery of the money.
Robb and Puata also took the woman’s dog and told the woman he would “not come back until your bill is cleared”.
Another message said, “See you soon, and beware, Moon is f***ing angry”.
After being at Pāpāmoa Beach, the victims were driven to a Z petrol station, and while Robb got out of the car, Puata stayed in the car and punched Shrimpton in the head.
Puata was found guilty of assaulting Shrimpton, which the judge noted meant the kidnapping had involved actual violence.
Shrimpton and the woman were taken home, but Puata and Robb took the woman’s dog as “security”.
The next day, Robb and Puata returned to the victims’ flat and walked in without permission.
The judge noted that although a flatmate opened the door, the pair had “simply entered without a request to enter”.
“Again, the text messages speak to your intent when you entered that address,” the judge said, noting Robb had told the victims Puata was “angry”.
While Robb and Puata were there, the woman called her father to get the money paid.
“She was clearly terrified,” said Judge Lawson.
“As, I expect, was the male victim. He was then assaulted again … and was told that was because he made the female victim ask her father for money.”
There was a further assault on Shrimpton by Puata, and then Puata drove the woman to another address to arrange for payment of the money.
Shrimpton’s problems got worse after this incident, because Robb was not the only person to whom he owed money.
In a separate, unrelated trial, Piripi Tukaokao was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Shrimpton over a drug debt, about a month after the incident with Puata and Robb.
Harley Shrimpton and a woman were kidnapped by Kiri Robb and Mark Puata about a month before he was killed in an unrelated incident over another debt. Photo / NZ Police
“Changed the way I see the world” says woman
In a victim impact statement, the woman said it was “difficult to put into words how frightening that time was and how much it has changed [her]”.
She’d moved away from Tauranga because she no longer felt safe there, and now felt scared of the dark and “being outside after dark”.
She was constantly aware of her surroundings now.
“It has changed the way I see the world,” she said.
“I don’t feel as carefree as I did before.”
She still grapples with fear, panic and anxiety, and is working to rebuild her confidence, but said it had not been easy.
When it came to sentencing, the judge accepted that the period of detention had been “relatively brief”, had not involved weapons or restraints, but was “clearly premeditated”.
While Robb hadn’t been involved in the violence, she was the “instigator” of the overall offending.
In terms of the defendants’ backgrounds and personal circumstances, Puata had 10 pages of previous convictions, including eight burglary convictions.
There were also convictions for unlawful possession of firearms, possession of a knife, threatening to kill, assault with a firearm, assault with a weapon, male assaults female, and multiple common assaults.
The 68-year-old had a long-standing association with the Mongrel Mob, having joined the gang when he was 20.
He had issues with methamphetamine use, had been using heavily at the time of the offending, and now has significant health challenges.
Robb had previous convictions for possession of a firearm without a licence, and assault.
She had given the court a letter of remorse, but the judge noted it was somewhat at odds with comments made to a pre-sentence report-writer, where she claimed the victims had gone with her willingly.
The judge adopted an overall starting point of three years’ and four months’ imprisonment for Puata, and two years’ and five months’ imprisonment for Robb.
Puata was given a 15% discount for his ill-health and addiction issues, leading to an end sentence of two years and 10 months in prison.
Robb was given a 5% discount for remorse, and received an end sentence of two years and three months’ imprisonment.
Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.
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