Victim turns down $1000 reparations as she doesn’t want offender’s children ‘to go without’

A “kind-hearted” victim of crime has turned down $1000 in reparations because she didn’t want the offender’s children to go without.

Judge Richard Russell called the victim’s decision “quite remarkable”, and said he hoped the defendant, Shannon Leigh Blockley, would repay the goodwill gesture by turning her life around when he sentenced her at Blenheim District Court on Monday.

Blockley, 41, appeared before Judge Russell on one charge of theft after she stole the victim’s iPhone while she was shopping at a Blenheim supermarket.

According to the police summary of facts, the victim was in Countdown Springlands on Middle Renwick Rd on June 23, 2023.

The victim was ahead of the defendant in a queue at the checkout and had placed her iPhone on the conveyor belt. The woman then left the store, “accidentally” leaving her phone behind at the checkout.

Blockley, who was next in line in the queue, picked up the victim’s iPhone, valued at $1199, and placed it in her clothing before walking out of the supermarket.

When spoken to by the police, Blockley said she was heavily intoxicated at the time and “wasn’t thinking straight”.

Judge Russell said it was clear from the pre-sentence report that Blockley had a problem with alcohol that “clearly needs to be addressed”.

“You accept you were under the influence of alcohol, in other words, you were drunk and took the phone because you needed a new one,” Judge Russell said.

“After you left the store, you felt guilty for what you’d done, so you threw away the phone.”

Judge Russell said the restorative justice report was “quite remarkable”, and although a restorative justice meeting hadn’t taken place, the process had given the victim an insight into the defendant’s personal circumstances, including the fact she was a mother with two dependent children.

“She (the victim) wanted you to get rehabilitation and get help with your alcohol issues, and she did not want your children to go without,” Judge Russell told Blockley.

“You not having to pay reparations would save you having to pay $1000 to the victim for the loss that she sustained.

“She is indeed a kind-hearted soul who had the misfortune to come across you at a Countdown supermarket in June.”

Sentencing Blockley to two months’ community detention with a 7pm to 7am curfew and 12 months’ supervision, Judge Russell told her he hoped she would “recognise the help” she had been given to “get out of the difficulties you are in”.

“You can repay her kindness by following the court order I’m about to apply to the letter,” Judge Russell told Blockley.

“You owe it to your children, and to others in the community, and to the victim of your offending to put dealing with your alcohol issues at the top of your life’s priorities.”