Second Paul Holmes jeep thief sentenced
The second man that stole Paul Holmes' SUV to visit the sick mother of his co-offender has been sentenced in the Napier District Court.
Matthew Adam Jury, 19, was supported in court by his mother today where he faced charges of theft and the unlawful taking of a motor vehicle - Mr Holmes' $60,000 Jeep Cherokee.
Jury and his co-offender Zane Smiley Hodgson, 18, were in Hastings when they spotted Holmes' late model Jeep Cherokee parked with the keys still in it.
They took it as Hodgson's mother was sick with cancer in Taupo and they were attempting to visit her, Jury's counsel Michael McAleer said.
However, their plan was compromised when they also made off with $151 of petrol from Gull Service Station on Taradale Rd and were later caught by police on the Napier-Taupo road. Mr McAleer described it as "opportunistic offending".
Judge Bridget Mackintosh said there was no issue with his current community work, and so gave it a "top up" of 100 hours. He was also ordered to pay $76 in reparations for the petrol taken.
Hodgson was sentenced on September 12 to 100 hours community work, $76 in reparations and was disqualified from driving for six months.
