Home detention for Takaka man responsible for igniting fires outside Parliament

The protester said to have incited the fires at last year’s violence outside Parliament has had a potential prison sentence whittled down to six months of home detention.

Jordan Turner-Critchley, who lives in a house bus in Takaka and is on a supported living payment as a caregiver to his mother, appeared in the Nelson District Court today for sentencing conducted via the Wellington District Court.

The 31-year-old initially denied charges of rioting and doing a dangerous act, but this year he changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced today. Co-offender Sarah Henry was to have been sentenced as well, but she was instead remanded on bail for an updated probation and pre-sentence report, to consider options for home detention.

The court heard today that Turner-Critchley, who until last year had not appeared before a court, regretted getting involved with what became a riot, and “proffered his apologies”.

Defence counsel said his actions came about as a result of frustrations with the mandates in place to try and halt the spread of Covid-19.

On February 8 last year a convoy of people in vehicles headed to Parliament in central Wellington. The primary motivation appeared to be Covid-19 related, to challenge the effectiveness of the Government in its handling of it and to repeal the mandates, Judge Jan Kelly said.

She noted the range of different groups present with a range of agendas, some of which were opposing, plus the addition of members of criminal gangs.

It evolved into an unlawful occupation, with numbers present continuing to grow until the crowds peaked at about 3000.

About 700 structures were erected, including tents and other facilities, and several hundred vehicles were parked nearby. There were numerous families with children present.

Judge Kelly said the protesters were intent on controlling the area and the magnitude of the occupation caused “significant, ongoing disruption”, including the forced closure of nearby schools, and disruption to the university over the 23 days, which culminated in the closure of the Wellington Railway Station.

Judge Kelly said that on multiple occasions commuters were verbally abused while passing, for wearing face masks and refusing to engage in the protest.

At 6am on March 2 the police began an operation to restore peace at the site and the protest took a turn to become violent, Judge Kelly said.

At least six fires were lit and were fuelled by various items which seriously endangered police and other protesters, some of whom by then were protecting themselves with home-made shields.

Over 13 hours many police and members of the public were injured to degrees which ranged from moderate to serious. Seven police needed treatment at the hospital’s accident and emergency department.

The cost of the damage and the “large-scale clean-up” was significant, Judge Kelly said.

Turner-Critchley had already been arrested and trespassed, but returned to the site in the afternoon of March 2, and joined a large group which was by then throwing “large projectiles”.

Judge Kelly said he was distinctive for the coloured trousers he was wearing, and for the New Zealand flag he had wrapped around his head and face as a bandanna.

He was then seen throwing a green glass bottle at the police, and then entering a tent erected in front of the police. Turner-Critchley picked up a red petrol container, gestured to people around him to move away before plumes of dark smoke could be seen from near the tent before he retreated and blended into the rest of the crowd.

Judge Kelly said the fire he lit changed the complexity of the protest, and more fires were then lit, fuelled by a plastic crate Turner-Critchley was seen tossing into one of them.

A 22-month prison term was an appropriate starting point for sentence, Judge Kelly said, because of the use of violence towards the police, and the risk from the fires to property and the “huge number of people in close proximity”.

Taking into account aggravating and mitigating factors, including that he had eventually pleaded guilty, an endpoint of 16 months in prison was arrived at before Judge Kelly considered a sentence that combined home detention and community work was appropriate.

She said the offending needed to be denounced and others needed to be deterred from offending in a similar way, and Turner-Critchley needed now to give something back to the community in recognition of the harm caused.

On each charge, he was convicted and sentenced to six months home detention and 200 hours of community work.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.