Two Salvation Army volunteers have been convicted of stealing groceries intended for the organisation's charity food bank.
Martin Roger Finnerty, 54, and Ngaire Finnerty, 46, yesterday pleaded guilty to theft, after they were caught in a police sting. They were convicted and sentenced to community work.
In the Dunedin District Court yesterday, defence lawyer Jo Turner said the Finnertys knew their behaviour was wrong, but it was "an inappropriate response and misguided effort to gain some control" of their lives.They had been under emotional and financial stress after the killing of their 16-year-old son and stepson, Shaun Finnerty-Gallagher, in Christchurch in 2008. Last year, Thomas Tihema Christie, 26, was sentenced to six years' jail for the indecent assault and manslaughter of the teenager.
Opinion:
I don't have a good feeling about anyone being convicted of stealing food. It just doesn't sit well with me. I mean, of all the things to steal, they steal food? Could it be they actually needed to? And what is the story behind this story? How is it that this couple find themselves in so much financial debt as to steal food when they have been victims of one of the worse crimes imaginable? What assistance do they get or do they merely have to continue living like "functional wage-earners" while their daughter's murderer goes to trial? And six years? He'll be out in four.
this was theft not only from the needy but also for financial gain. they werent just stealing the food but selling it as well and making a nice profit from it.
ReplyDeleteYeah it seems real sad to me and a huge injustise.
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