{"id":331066,"date":"2026-03-15T17:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T17:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/331066\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T17:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T17:21:08","slug":"auckland-man-who-burnt-down-st-marys-catholic-church-to-teach-god-a-lesson-was-visited-by-police-four-times-in-prior-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/331066\/","title":{"rendered":"Auckland man who burnt down St Mary\u2019s Catholic Church \u2018to teach God a lesson\u2019 was visited by police four times in prior month"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cNot only have they lost their friendship base but they can\u2019t understand why the church isn\u2019t being rebuilt at a quicker rate. People\u2019s memory of it is charred embers and wood \u2026 burning in the early hours of the morning.”<\/p>\n

After psychological assessments while in remand at the Mason Clinic, Katoa was deemed not guilty by reason of insanity. <\/p>\n

Judge Claire Ryan oversaw a disposition hearing on Thursday to determine Katoa\u2019s ongoing detainment and treatment. <\/p>\n

The court heard that psychiatrist Dr Ian Goodwin had assessed Katoa as having undiagnosed schizophrenia which he had been \u201clabouring with\u201d for many years before the St Mary\u2019s Church fire. <\/p>\n

A report from Goodwin outlined that on the night of his offending Katoa was \u201cacutely psychotic\u201d. <\/p>\n

He had been receiving auditory hallucinations for about three years before the offending.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe believed God had to be punished for humiliating his father and he believed the church needed to burn down to do that,\u201d Judge Ryan read in court today. Katoa\u2019s psychotic state led him to \u201ctarget a church to teach God a lesson\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"FirefightersFirefighters at the blaze at St Mary\u2019s Catholic Church on Great North Road in Avondale.
\nPhoto \/ Hayden Woodward<\/p>\n

However, it was noted that \u201ceven when delusional he was thinking of others\u201d because Katoa intentionally chose to light the fire at night when it would be safer with no people around. <\/p>\n

Judge Ryan outlined that his family said there had been an increase in the consumption of alcohol prior to the arson. Katoa said in the past he had problems with alcohol, but denied any involvement of alcohol in the arson.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did use alcohol in the four to five weeks leading up to the alleged offending, and according to his family he became more aggressive in verbalising his psychotic ideas,\u201d Ryan said. <\/p>\n

Police were called to Katoa\u2019s home, where he lived with his parents, four times in the month before the fire at St Mary\u2019s. <\/p>\n

Katoa also has a criminal history, including: disorderly behaviour, wilful damage, driving a motor vehicle in a dangerous manner, excessive breath alcohol, possession of an offensive weapon, intentional damage, aggravated robbery, failing to stop for police lights, speaking threateningly, and being unlawfully in a building.<\/p>\n

But he has not reoffended since 2008 – when he was convicted and discharged. <\/p>\n

There was no further offending until last year with the arson, which Judge Ryan noted was \u201ca considerable period of time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Goodwin reported that since being detained at the Mason Clinic, Katoa has been making \u201cgreat progress\u201d from his anti-psychotic medication and judged his risk of reoffending as low. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow that Mr Katoa has been treated he is very aware of what he\u2019s done, he\u2019s very remorseful for it and has a great deal of grief for the community,\u201d Goodwin said.<\/p>\n

Goodwin said Katoa no longer believed that God had been humiliating or speaking to him. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe is so ashamed that he does not think he can ever attend the church again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Ryan detailed that Katoa left school at 16 and had worked at various labouring jobs, but had been unemployed for most of the last 15 years. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe fire gutted the Avondale church. Photo \/ Andrew Matthew.<\/p>\n

He lived at home with his parents and would like to return there to live.<\/p>\n

In determining Katoa\u2019s future management, Judge Ryan decided to implement section 25 1.a of the Mentally Impaired Persons Act (2003) – which is an alternative available if the defendant is unfit to stand trial or insane.<\/p>\n

This ordered that the defendant be treated as a patient under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992. Ryan said she was satisfied by the low risk outlined by Goodwin.<\/p>\n

In practicality, this means Katoa will continue to be treated at the Mason Clinic until the treating clinicians decide he is ready to be released for community treatment. If this takes longer than six months, it will need to be reassessed by a judge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot bind the treating clinician but I point out it is very important that Mr Katoa stays as an inpatient until there is wraparound support \u2026 I simply state when he\u2019s put in community, that appropriate accommodation is arranged.”<\/p>\n

Both Katoa\u2019s defence lawyer Alexander Zhao and the lawyer representing the Crown, Ryan Benic, supported this decision. <\/p>\n

Addressing Katoa, Judge Ryan said: \u201cyou need to be patient. You have been on a very long journey and a good journey. You have responded really well to treatment\u2026 there is a great deal of hope you will be able to return to your family\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchizophrenia is just another condition \u2026 I\u2019m sure your family is very proud of the steps you have taken.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in this country are very forgiving if they know what suffering others are undergoing.\u201d <\/p>\n

Priest\u2019s prayer the night of the blaze<\/p>\n

\"TheThe aftermath of the fire that destroyed St Mary\u2019s Catholic Church on Great North Rd, Auckland.
\nPhoto \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n

Father Andrew Matthew said he awoke at 4am on July 14 to the sound of the windows popping. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I looked out the window, all I could see was a sea of red flames. It\u2019s a real shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew rang 111 as he walked out into the church carpark.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur poor church was on fire. All I could do was watch and pray.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even at that stage, Matthew could see the church was lost.<\/p>\n

Parishioners hugged and cried in front of the smouldering wreckage in the late morning.<\/p>\n

Auckland Catholic Diocese general manager James van Schie, who was also at the church in the hours after the fire, said the parish was established in 1921 and the church was built in the late 1950s.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor over 100 years, it\u2019s been a vital part of the fabric of the Avondale community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many Aucklanders who trace their family history here; baptisms, funerals, weddings. It is a vibrant parish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency assistant commander Phil Larcomb said the brick St Mary\u2019s Catholic Church, in front of St Mary\u2019s School, was on fire and had been \u201cseverely damaged\u201d when they got there at 4am.<\/p>\n

At the fire\u2019s peak, eight fire trucks were on the scene.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe brick St Mary\u2019s Catholic Church was in front of St Mary\u2019s School.
\nPhoto \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cNot only have they lost their friendship base but they can\u2019t understand why the church isn\u2019t being rebuilt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[42772,51,1558,177848,3595,54509,12897,6097,3011,51499,6628,6044,78,685,12782,5158,148220,4486,111,43,139,69,675,5351,36303,177850,152213,11420,85316,14005,61,177849,17249,5828,6736,1299,379],"class_list":["post-331066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-aggressive","tag-auckland","tag-been","tag-burnt","tag-by","tag-catholic","tag-church","tag-down","tag-four","tag-god","tag-historic","tag-ideas","tag-in","tag-last","tag-lesson","tag-man","tag-marys","tag-month","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-police","tag-previous","tag-prior","tag-psychotic","tag-schizophrenic","tag-st","tag-teach","tag-times","tag-to","tag-undiagnosed","tag-visited","tag-wanted","tag-was","tag-who","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331066","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=331066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}