A convicted conman pretended to represent a wealthy benefactor in court to get his former cellmate a reduced prison sentence.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Nicholas Birch, 29, has been jailed for his actions in the Dunedin District Court.
He was sentenced yesterday to one year and 11 months of imprisonment, after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of making a false statement.
Birch has multiple convictions for fraud and, according to previous media reports, falsely promised young men tens of thousands of dollars to perform sex acts.
Judge Kevin Phillips said that, in March 2015, Birch emailed the lawyer of his former cellmate, Cromwell burglar Fletcher Dennis.
He claimed he had never met Dennis before, and represented a wealthy benefactor who had heard of Dennis' interest in becoming a horse farrier, and thought he had great potential to do the job.
Birch claimed the benefactor had a son in Dennis' circumstances, who had benefited from such an offer, Judge Phillips said.
Birch told Dennis' lawyer his benefactor would offer Dennis a job as a farrier on his release from prison and pay his $25,000 reparations.
Dennis' lawyer accepted Birch's proposal, and Birch attended Dennis' sentencing in the Alexandra District Court before Judge Michael Crosbie.
It was there, Judge Phillips said, that Birch "conned" Judge Crosbie, by standing before him and offering the false promise of employment and reparations.
This promise caused Judge Crosbie to grant Dennis a six-month discount on his sentence, Judge Phillips said.
When police investigated Birch's claims, they found them to be false and laid a charge of making a false statement.
Judge Phillips said he had spent time yesterday trying to research cases with the equivalent style of offending, but had failed to find one.
"I couldn't find a case of someone who had the temerity to stand in front of a sentencing judge shamelessly and just lie and lie and lie," he said.
Birch's offending "strikes at the very heart" of the judicial process, the sentencing judge said. It left the judicial system vulnerable and open to such offending, and as such it was important Birch's sentence reflected an element of denunciation and deterrence, he said.
It was clear the in-court lie was a premeditated plan devised between Birch and Dennis while in jail together, he said.
He noted Birch had 93 prior convictions and a record of "blatant repeated dishonesty", with a high risk of reoffending.
"You continue to misrepresent yourself," Judge Phillips said.
Birch was also sentenced on three charges of driving while disqualified, to be served concurrently.
