{"id":306647,"date":"2026-02-28T15:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/306647\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T15:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:12:20","slug":"three-of-a-group-of-burglars-who-caused-utter-mayhem-across-waikato-sent-to-prison-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/306647\/","title":{"rendered":"Three of a group of burglars who caused \u2018utter mayhem\u2019 across Waikato sent to prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hohepa-Strickland faced the same charges except for one, which involved the burglary<\/a> of Hillcrest Mobil.<\/p>\n

Judge Cocurullo said the group \u201ccaused utter mayhem\u201d during the early hours of January 19 last year, targeting supermarkets and petrol stations.<\/p>\n

Kicked, forced, smashed their way inside<\/p>\n

That \u201cmayhem\u201d began earlier in the evening in Hamilton East when a vehicle was stolen, and used by Kingi and others.<\/p>\n

The group drove to the Save-a-Lot supermarket in Te Kauwhata, in two stolen cars.<\/p>\n

Three offenders kicked, forced, and squeezed their way through the sliding doors at 1.10am, while Nusipepa smashed the glass door with a tyre iron.<\/p>\n

They stole cigarettes and vaping products before driving to the nearby New World.<\/p>\n

There, the front door was smashed off its rails.<\/p>\n

They ran to the staff-only area and rummaged through the checkouts before leaving with unknown property.<\/p>\n

By 2.57am, they were in Hamilton, outside Thirsty Liquor Hillcrest.<\/p>\n

The group used various tools to try to get in, smashing the glass doors, but ultimately failed as the security grille blocked them.<\/p>\n

The store alarms went off, and the fog cannon was activated, which sent the offenders fleeing to New World Hillcrest on Cambridge Rd.<\/p>\n

One of the group forced open the front door, allowing some to enter, while others smashed a glass pane and gained entry that way.<\/p>\n

Again, they headed to the staff-only area before fleeing. It was unclear what was stolen.<\/p>\n

Four minutes later, at 3.05am, they drove across the road to Mobil Hillcrest.<\/p>\n

Kingi and his co-offenders used various tools, as well as kicking, to smash the glass windows and pry the doors open.<\/p>\n

However, the fog cannon was activated, and the group ran from the store.<\/p>\n

\"TenTen offenders, aged between 15 and 19, stormed six businesses, including the Caltex Hillcrest during the early hours of January 19 last year. Image \/ Google maps<\/p>\n

Lastly, the group went to Caltex Hillcrest, which, at 3.09am, was open with only one attendant. <\/p>\n

All 10 offenders got out of their cars, wearing disguises, and ran through the front doors, while Nusipepa stood at the front door holding a screwdriver.<\/p>\n

The store attendant feared for his safety, ran to a back room and activated the fog cannon.<\/p>\n

Kingi and another offender jumped over the counter and stole cigarettes, while the others stole other items. <\/p>\n

After loading the car, they took off at speed on to Cambridge Rd, while a responding police unit spotted the stolen Nissan Juke and pulled in behind.<\/p>\n

The driver accelerated away, reaching speeds of 75km\/h in a 50km\/h zone.<\/p>\n

But the car lost a wheel and stopped at Waikato University.<\/p>\n

The occupants fled but werecaught shortly afterby a police dog and handler, and other officers.<\/p>\n

All up, about $20,000 in damage was caused to the businesses.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s significant offending\u2019<\/p>\n

In court, Mark Fyers, counsel for Kingi, said beyond the number of participants, the offending was at the lower end of the scale, \u201calthough there was some damage done and items [taken]\u201d.<\/p>\n

He suggested an overall starting point of five years\u2019 jail, adding that it was a significant amount of prison time for such a young man with no criminal history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s significant offending,\u201d the judge replied.<\/p>\n

Fyers accepted that, and along with 20% for Kingi\u2019s plea, suggested a further 20% for his youth, but noted he wouldn\u2019t be in a position to pay reparation.<\/p>\n

Judge Cocurullo wasn\u2019t impressed, but didn\u2019t feel great about having to send a young person to prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the last person I want to jail.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe three were sentenced in the Hamilton District Court. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a sad day … if they think they can go out and cause utter mayhem, and I can press a reset button, and it\u2019s all better, and come in say \u2018I\u2019m remorseful\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fyers agreed it was serious, but pushed for an end sentence of home detention.<\/p>\n

Judge Cocurullo disagreed, and instead took an overall starting point of six and a half years\u2019 imprisonment, with 45% in discounts, jailing King for 36 months, which also included six months discount for time on electronically-monitored bail.<\/p>\n

\u2018Classic spree of burglaries\u2019<\/p>\n

Glen Prentice, on behalf of Nusipepa, said the Caltex worker saw what was happening and \u201ctook the sensible evasive action that he should have\u201d. <\/p>\n

He labelled the offending as a \u201cclassic spree of burglaries … by five young people which has changed their lives forever\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis really does appear to be young people not thinking about consequences … just doing something crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nusipepa was remorseful, had shown insight, and apart from Christmas Day, had spent a year on EM-bail without issue.<\/p>\n

Prentice also pushed for home detention, but Judge Cocurullo said the offending was too serious<\/p>\n

He jailed Nusipepa for two years and 10 months.<\/p>\n

Unsuccessful attempt at 70% credit<\/p>\n

Counsel Nadine Baier said that although Hohepa-Strickland was on straight bail for the past 12 months, he had been working full-time on a rubbish truck to continue supporting his family.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d also participated in one fewer burglary, had no previous convictions, and was remorseful.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a young man, he works five to six days on rubbish trucks and has been working since he was 15 to help support his family. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis pay goes towards rent, and he helps his mum and other siblings.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pushed for discounts totalling 70%, much to the astonishment of Judge Cocurullo.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeventy %?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow could it ever be 70%? I\u2019m just struggling to understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baier said when she separated out all the various discounts, that\u2019s what it equalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the discounts that the law allows for,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Judge Cocurullo acceded to 50% credit and jailed Hohepa-Strickland for two years and nine months.<\/p>\n

One of the other co-accused is being dealt with in the Youth Court, while the other remains before the adult court.<\/p>\n

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hohepa-Strickland faced the same charges except for one, which involved the burglary of Hillcrest Mobil. Judge Cocurullo said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2840,130321,8604,209,14654,111,43,139,69,1118,8442,13743,1529,61,111385,1524,1299],"class_list":{"0":"post-306647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-across","9":"tag-burglars","10":"tag-caused","11":"tag-group","12":"tag-mayhem","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-of","18":"tag-prison","19":"tag-sent","20":"tag-three","21":"tag-to","22":"tag-utter","23":"tag-waikato","24":"tag-who"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}