Cutting out the middle man

Man happy to accept jail term

A 35-year-old Hamilton man convicted of receiving stolen goods from two burglaries has welcomed a sentence of jail, saying it would act as a deterrent.

"Sounds good to me", Steven Rakuraku remarked as he was sentenced yesterday in the Hamilton District Court to 18 months' jail after he admitted a charge of receiving stolen property and assaulting a female.

Rakuraku, representing himself in court, asked Judge Merelina Burnett to sentence him without a pre-sentence report, saying he agreed with the Crown's submission for imprisonment.

He said a prison sentence would serve as a deterrent against future offending.

- Waikato Times, 9 April 2010