NZ News
‘There is no future in this’: Judge’s warning to Hapai Otene months before he was shot dead by police
Court documents reveal the criminal history of a man fatally shot by police as he carried a stolen air rifle while approaching Auckland’s Sylvia Park. National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reports.
Shortly before wrapping up sentencing, Auckland District Court Judge Steve Bonnar addressed the man before him in the dock.
“I just leave you with this… I hope you are genuine in saying you want to change your life and you want to be a good dad to your kids, because there is no future in this.”
The man fatally shot by police, Hapai Otene, had pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1500 worth of goods from Rebel Sport in Mount Roskill. The judge noted he had 30 convictions dating from 2011 to 2021. He had also twice been ordered to serve four-year prison sentences for aggravated robbery.
“If you do not get off this cycle of offending, you are just going to keep coming back, keep spending more and more time either remanded in custody or serving sentence. You are still a young man. I do not think that is in anyone’s interests long term.
“So, take whatever help you can get from Probation and, hopefully, we will not see you back.”
Less than 100 days later, Otene was dead, shot by police as he approached Auckland’s Sylvia Park carrying a stolen air rifle.
Court documents obtained by RNZ reveal the extent of his prior criminal offending, as well as his battles with drug addiction that began at 15.
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
‘You have been using meth since you were 15’
Otene was jailed for four years in 2023 by Judge David McNaughton on a series of charges including theft, aggravated robbery, unlawful possession of firearms and unlawful possession of an airgun.
Court documents say that in December 2020, while on EM bail, he stole a pair of shoes from Rebel Sports.
RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Then, five days later, while on another approved absence, he and an associate drove to Cash Converters.
Otene parked out front with the engine running while his associate got out of the car holding a long barrelled firearm which he presented to the manager, threatening to shoot her if she did not open the jewellery drawers at the front counter.
The associate then took several drawers containing jewellery, worth about $90,000, and emptied it into a bag and they took off.
Later that month, Otene was trying to sell a shotgun on Facebook to two associates.
The court document says he sent a number of photographs and videos, one of which showed the shotgun being fired at a beach.
Police searched a property in Manurewa and found a shotgun cartridge under his bed, a single barrelled black airgun under a gazebo in the backyard, airgun pellets on top of a set of drawers and the car linked to the robbery.
The other charges he was sentenced for included a burglary at a property in Mount Wellington. After the incident, police searched his property and found a high powered .308 rifle in a closet in his bedroom.
Judge McNaughton said Otene had convictions for burglary going back to 2011, and had been jailed for four years and six months in 2015 for aggravated robbery.
A probation report said Otene claimed he carried out the offending to provide money for his methamphetamine addiction which was costing him about $6000 a week.
“You have been using meth since you were 15,” Judge McNaughton said.
“You say the majority of your offending was to support your drug addiction.”
The judge also said Otene was affiliated to the Killer Beez gang.
The probation officer said the father-of-five showed no remorse, adding that Otene was a “high risk of further re-offending and that there is little motivation to change”.
Otene’s partner, who he had been with since he was 15, wrote a letter which suggested he never had a stable family.
“She describes you as a devoted father and a hard worker who one day hopes to pursue a dream of owning a construction business.”
Otene’s sister also wrote a letter, in which she confirmed his struggles with drug addiction.
Judge McNaughton said that by the time Otene reached intermediate he was in a youth gang, smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol.
“By 16 you were addicted to methamphetamine and committing crimes to sustain your addiction.”
The judge sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment.
Final sentencing
Otene was released on parole in March 2025. Among his conditions was that he was not to enter any Rebel Sports or Cash Converters without the prior approval of a probation officer.
On October 7, he went to the Mount Roskill Rebel Sport and selected multiple items of clothing worth about $1500 before walking out without paying.
The clothing was never recovered.
Otene told police he was just trying to get some clothes as he didn’t have any.
STUFF / Lawrence Smith
Judge Bonnar KC referred to Otene’s criminal history, as well as a probation officer’s report.
“The probation officer thinks that the things which contribute to your offending are your attitudes generally and a sense of entitlement.
“You told the probation officer you were taking what you needed.”
Otene’s risk of re-offending was assessed as being at a high level, however his risk of causing harm was at a medium level.
“There should be no misunderstanding about that though,” Judge Bonnar KC said.
“That is not to suggest that theft from retail stores does not cause harm. It does. The rest of us, taxpayers, normal customers, all end up paying more for goods because of the significant amount of theft that goes on from retail shops.”
The probation officer recommended a sentence of community detention, potentially combined with supervision. Judge Bonnar KC said everyone agreed it was the appropriate sentence.
The judge said Otene continued to suffer from methamphetamine and cannabis use disorder.
He sentenced him to four months’ community attention with six months’ supervision.
Otene was back in court in July on a charge of taking a Subaru legacy.
Community detention and supervision
In response to questions from RNZ, Corrections director of communities, partnerships and pathways Simon Chaplin earlier confirmed Otene was subject to community detention and supervision.
“Their community sentence included a 7pm-7am curfew where electronic monitoring was used to verify that they were at their home address during the hours of this curfew. They were not in breach of this curfew at the time the Sylvia Park incident occurred.”
Corrections was reviewing its involvement with Otene.
“It would not be appropriate for us to provide further information while this and the police reviews are ongoing.”
According to Corrections’ website community detention is a “punitive sentence that restricts an offender’s movements during their curfew”. The offenders are subject to electronic monitoring and/or GPS, and they must wear an anklet at all times during their sentence.
“It requires an offender to remain at an approved residence at certain times specified by the court. This is known as the offender’s curfew.
“Electronic monitoring equipment is installed at the offender’s address and their compliance with their curfew is electronically monitored for the duration of the sentence.”
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The shooting
Auckland City District Commander Superintendent Sunny Patel earlier said police had received information about the theft of an air rifle from Gun City in Penrose around 2pm on August 13.
Police vehicles and the Eagle helicopter were dispatched to the area, locating the car near Sylvia Park.
Spikes were successfully deployed but the car continued towards Mount Wellington Highway, still being driven in an erratic manner, Patel said.
Police confronted Otene underneath an overpass as he approached the entrance of Sylvia Park, still carrying the air rifle. He was then shot by police.
Patel confirmed police were carrying out a critical incident investigation. He also confirmed the IPCA had been notified and would be carrying out its own investigation.
He said it was not known whether the air rifle was loaded, or whether Otene had any ammunition.
Patel was not aware of how many times Otene was shot, whether there had been any attempt to detain him or whether he had aimed the weapon at anyone.
The decision to shoot rested with the officer at the scene, and no clearance was required, he said.
The police investigation would look into what happened at the store, but it was concerning Otene was able to steal a weapon, Patel said.
A damning review into the fatal Mount Maunganui landslide details how one of the six victims went to extraordinary lengths to warn and help fellow campers before she was killed. National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reports.
It was day three of what was a “spur of the moment” decision by Morrinsville teacher Lisa Maclennan and her husband Travis to spend a few nights at the Beachside Holiday Park in Mount Maunganui.
They still had one more night booked, but after being woken by a slope coming down behind their campervan at about 4.30am, the couple spent the next several hours helping fellow campers and trying to alert others before deciding, at about 8.30am, that they wanted to leave.
About 9:15am, after emptying the campervan toilet receptacle, Lisa Maclennan went to have a shower in the amenities block.
Also staying at the campground were 15-year-olds Sharon Maccanico and her boyfriend Max Furse-Kee. The couple had travelled with Maccanico’s parents.
Maccanico’s parents had initially decided to cut the holiday short two days in following some strong windows with heavy rain predicted. However, when Maccanico’s father went to cancel the remainder of their booking he was encouraged by a member of the office to stay and said they had the option of renting a caravan or a cabin.
The family decided to rent a caravan to stay in until the storm passed, when they would return to their tent.
On the morning of 22 January, the sky was blue and the family had chosen a new campsite and were ready to move.
Shortly before 9:30am, Maccanico and Furse-Kee went off to the amenities block to have showers.
Minutes later, a large landslide came down, hitting about 30 campsites and engulfing the amenities block which included toilets, showers and laundry facilities.
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Six people were killed. They were Maclennan, Maccanico, Furse-Kee and three others who were also in the amenities block, Susan Knowles, Jacqualine Wheeler and Måns Loke Bernhardsson.
On Wednesday, an external review by retired high court judge Hon Paul Davison KSO KC, commissioned by the Tauranga City Council, was released.
The report said information identifying a risk to life was received, filed, discussed, forwarded – and then left.
“The failure was not the fault of any one person; it was the failure of a system that enabled an identified risk to life to remain unowned, un-escalated and unmanaged.”
Also inside the 268-page report lies details about the “heroic lengths” Maclennan took to help those around her.
The ‘spur of the moment’ trip
The Maclennans arrived at the Beachside Holiday Park in the campervan they had borrowed from Lisa’s family on 20 January.
At 11.57am the following day, Travis received a Civil Defence Emergency Alert on his phone.
The alert told Travis that MetService had issued a red severe rain warning for Bay of Plenty from 9am to 9am the following day.
“Put safety first. Don’t take any chances. Act quickly if you see rising water. Do not try to walk, swim, or drive in floodwater.
“Avoid all non-essential travel. Bring pets indoors and move livestock to high ground where possible.”
The alert also said to “be prepared to evacuate”.
After returning to the campground that afternoon they remained in the campervan for the night.
About 4.30am on 22 January, Lisa woke up after hearing a noise and feeling the campervan move, the report said.
“She woke Travis who says that Lisa was panicking and initially thought that it was an earthquake.
“She went out and saw that the slope behind the campervan had come down and hit the rear of their vehicle. Some of the mud and soil from the slip had gone under the campervan covering the electric cable which was connected to a power bollard.”
NZ POLICE / SUPPLIED
Lisa moved the campervan and then woke the people who were in a blue tent that was beside them as she was worried they could be trapped if any more of the slope failed.
The report said the Maclennans wanted to “urgently” contact the management of the holiday park to tell them what had happened “so that other campers would be alerted to the risk of any further slope failures”.
At 4.43am, Travis called the numbers printed on the holiday park information sheet.
The call was initially answered by a security firm who transferred him to the Tauranga City Council (TCC) contact centre.
A transcript of the call said Travis told them they were staying at the holiday park and that they were trying to get hold of them.
“There’s been a slip where we’re staying, and it’s affected a few of us, and we obviously don’t know.
“Well, we want to get hold of them so that we can let them know, but it’s affected a few people here…”
He added that “a few people here need to be relocated”.
The contact centre staffer asked Travis if he had tried the intercom which should put him straight to the cellphone of a person whose name is redacted in the report and named Staff Member Q.
He replied he hadn’t as they were “a little bit flustered, so we rang straight through to the number, and it put us straight through to you guys”.
The staffer put Travis on hold and made two calls to the campground’s after-hours number, however neither call was answered.
At 4.52am the staffer called the Emergency Management Officer’s (EMO) phone and spoke to a Staff Member B and transferred Travis’ call to her.
Travis told Staff Member B about the slip that had come down. He said they had found the intercom which they were going to use. Staff Member B said she would get someone to call them back.
At 5.15am, Staff Member B emailed the TCC Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) operations, welfare and intelligence to tell them about two phone calls she’d had.
One was about a call she’d had from police about a slip that had taken down a house on Waitaha Road with a 10-year-old and 70-year-old missing.
The other was from Travis. She detailed what he had told her and said she’d told him she would get someone to call him back.
The report said that after his call with Staff Member B, the Maclennans tried the intercom and knocked on the walls of the campground office but had no luck.
Alan Gibson / Gibson Images Ltd
They then noticed that another landslip had come down further along the driveway towards two cabins.
The couple woke the occupants of the cabins, as well as some people who were in a campervan nearby.
At 5.21am Staff Member C, who was on duty supporting the EOC controller, called Travis.
In the EOC welfare log she noted the conversation and said Travis indicated he was assisting a neighbouring camper to move their belongings.
“There had been no injuries and Travis had a location in the campground that was appropriate to shelter in place until he could raise assistance from a staff member.
“Travis was advised to call back on the EOC welfare number should he need any further support. No further calls from Travis by 7am handover.”
The 111 call
The report says that at 5.47am a local resident (referred to as Member of the Public A), who had been walking near the mountain, called 111 after seeing two large landslides had come down on the ocean side near the surf club building.
His call was transferred to Fire and Emergency (FENZ) who told him that landslides were a council matter and that FENZ would notify them.
A FENZ staffer then called the TCC contact centre and told Staff Member A that they had been informed that there had been a landslide at the bottom of the mountain.
The caller had “mentioned about potentially having some problems at the Holiday Park, if the weather continues”.
Member of the Public A went to the surf club to tell the lifeguards about the landslides and started waking some campers.
Staff Member A called Staff Member D, whose responsibilities included the maintenance and repair of the walkways and tracks on Mauao. He then called Staff Member F and they made a decision to immediately close all public access points onto the mountain.
Staff Member D then drove to the campground.
The Maclennans returned to the campground office several times between 5.30am and 7am to try to find someone to tell about the slips. By now, three landslips from the slope above and behind their campervan had come down.
The report said the couple also spoke with other campers.
“Travis Maclennan recalls that while he and Lisa were concerned about what had happened and thought that other campers near the base of the mountain should be warned and moved, there was no panicking.”
By dawn, other campers gathered around and the couple told them why they had moved their campervan.
The couple took several photos of the slips and the blue tent, the earliest was about 6.16am.
supplied
‘Major slip on mount’
At 6.40am, Staff Member J, who had been alerted to the landslide by Staff Member D, sent a message to a Teams chat group used by asset managers at TCC’s City Operations and Spaces and Places team.
“Major slip on mount by camp site heading [there] now to meet [Staff Member D]”.
The report also referred to a Staff Member Q, who started monitoring the weather on 21 January. About 4pm he received a call advising that heavy rainfall was forecast.
During the afternoon and evening he looked out for any flooding around the holiday park.
About 11pm he called a First Security staffer asking them to keep a look out for any flooding or damage.
“He told them to contact him if there was anything to report, regardless of the time.”
About 6.30am on 22 January, he woke and checked the campground’s beachfront CCTV camera on his phone and saw flooding all around the beachfront campsites.
Shortly after he got a call from TCC Call Centre and was told that City Operations and other TCC staff were out in front of the campground office.
Staff Member Q went over to the ocean beachfront to see the flooding and saw that a large slip had come down and covered the stone stairs and ramp that provided access from the campground up to the base track.
When Staff Member J arrived at the campground about 6.45am, he parked his vehicle near the office and put on a hi-vis jacket.
As he approached the office he saw some people knocking on the door.
The report said Lisa asked him if he was from the campground. He replied that he was from the council.
Staff Member J said his conversation with Lisa lasted “probably two minutes”.
“He described her demeanour as being frustrated and agitated because she had not been able to get hold of anybody and there was no one from the campground around to speak to.”
AFP / Ben Strang
He said Lisa told him that there was a “little slip” that had hit her caravan about 4.30am.
“She said that she was worried about the bank situation where her caravan was parked … [and that] she expressed concern that people around the base of the Mount should be evacuated.”
Staff Member J said he told the Maclennans that he couldn’t assist them, but he would try to contact the campground manager to tell him about their concerns.
“Staff Member J is clear that Lisa was not suggesting there was any need for an urgent response by the campground management, and she was not asking him to take any urgent action in relation to either the slips or the damage caused to their campervan.”
After speaking to the couple he called Staff Member N and asked them to contact Staff Member Q and get someone down to the office.
Travis said that when he and Lisa saw Staff Member Q he was speaking to some campers.
He said his wife approached Staff Member Q and said he needed to come over to their side of the campground because there had been some slips there, and they had been trying to get hold of him all morning.
Travis alleged Staff Member Q responded with what the report describes as a “rather dismissive wave of his hand” saying “I’ll get there when I get there”.
The couple then went back to their campervan to wait for him.
Staff Member Q’s version of the conversation was different. He said he was approached by four people while he was looking at the flooding around the ocean beach campsites.
He said the Maclennans told him their camper had a bit of damage to the rear bumper.
“I said as soon as I was finished, I would come over directly to see you.”
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Latest News
In November 2024, two New Zealand women arrived at the same private clinic in Germany, to be operated on by the same 83-year-old surgeon for the same rare condition.
Sophie Roberts woke from surgery and could, for the first time in years, eat and drink without pain. Her seizures stopped, her bladder function returned. Within six months she had regained 20kg and was able to return to law school.
“My outcome from surgery was far better than we could ever have hoped, imagined or dared to kind of dream about,” she says.
Leah Kennedy woke to a very different outcome. She believes the surgery has left her worse off and she regrets her decision to go.
“He has kind of left me in a mess. And I recommend they don’t go to Germany,” she says.
The view from doctors is also split. Some say it’s a lifesaving surgery while others are skeptical it is even needed and question the diagnosis that leads patients down this path. Health New Zealand, which does not offer this surgery, warns the operation is experimental and dangerous, urging patients not to travel overseas for it.
At the heart of both women’s stories is a medical controversy with no easy solution. When does an experimental treatment become a breakthrough? And when does hope expose patients to unnecessary risk? These questions are dividing doctors and patients around the world.
The answers lie within a complicated, sprawling story that straddles the grey areas of medicine, science and humanity. It’s explored in the RNZ podcast and multimedia investigation All In Her Head.
A $200,000 chasm from diagnosis to treatment
Sophie Roberts and Leah Kennedy are among a growing number of New Zealanders diagnosed with the connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) who are traveling overseas for the surgery Health New Zealand warns against.
They’re desperate to resolve painful, even life-threatening symptoms from abdominal vascular compression syndromes (AVCS), which some doctors link to EDS.
Leah Kennedy. Photo: RNZ/Nate McKinnon
There are four main types of this syndrome. In each, blood vessels are squashed, restricting blood flow to organs, causing severe pain, nausea and often an inability to eat.
All four are recognised in the medical literature, but there is debate about what some of them are, and how to diagnose them.
Having one is considered extremely rare. It is rarer still, therefore, that a person would have more than one. In fact, there is no scientific consensus on whether it’s even possible to have more than one, or whether they are linked to the most common type of EDS.
Yet, an increasing number of people with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) or Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) are being diagnosed with several compressions at once.
This has created a controversial chasm in treatment.
In New Zealand, procedures to treat all four main compression syndromes in the abdomen are technically available but doctors rarely perform them. Patients with an EDS diagnosis say they’re routinely blocked from accessing surgery that’s given to others without the diagnosis.
But surgery to fix multiple compression syndromes in a single operation is now being performed in several countries including the US, Spain and more recently in Australia.
Most New Zealand patients head to Germany to see vascular surgeon Professor Wilhelm Sandmann, who has been performing this operation on EDS patients for more than a decade. However, he has attracted criticism from his peers over patient safety concerns.
Sandmann is one of the few surgeons globally willing to operate on multiple compression syndromes in a single procedure, sometimes on all syndromes at once. In Canberra, vascular surgeon Dr Gert Frahm-Jensen has started performing the operation in the last 18 months. He takes a more conservative approach, treating up to three syndromes at a time, and only with patients over 17 years old.
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