Fraudster spared jail

A fraudster who sank a Porirua youth charity has been given three months’ home detention, which the sentencing judge insists is not a slap on the wrist.

Cannons Creek woman Toni Lorraine Gardener, 41, was spared prison owing to her poor health, which stems from a botched operation some months ago.

She was convicted in Porirua District Court on December 17 of defrauding Streets Ahead 237 of $4000 between April 2012 and January 2013.

Founded by former Mongrel Mob member Wayne Poutoa in 2006, Streets Ahead worked to keep at-risk teenagers out of gangs.

It folded after former business manager Gardener’s fraud was discovered.

Outside court, an upset Mr Poutoa said Gardener had stolen before, and he believed she would do it again..

Gardener was convicted in April of defrauding the Department of Internal Affairs between 2008 to 2010, but because she has many aliases, Streets Ahead was unaware of her offending when she was hired.

Gardener is also known as Toni Bates, Antoinette Gardener and Toni Spiro.

‘‘These people will never learn. She’ll do it again, and I’m sure the court will not be as lenient again,’’ Mr Poutoa said.

Reading his victim impact statement in court, Mr Poutoa told Gardener she had destroyed his hard work and reputation.

‘‘Our dream has become a nightmare. Your actions will always bring my integrity into question,’’ he said.

Mr Poutoa’s wife, Jennifer, wept in the public gallery as Gardener was sentenced.

Judge Stephen Harrop said home detention was the country’s second most serious sentence, after prison.

‘‘It might be thought a sentence of home detention is a light sentence – as Mr Poutoa put it, a slap on the wrist. In my view it certainly isn’t.

‘‘ People don’t realise what a restriction it is psychologically and physically.’’

Gardener’s white-collar crime was as serious as a violent offence, Judge Harrop told her.

‘‘At least with violent offending there’s just one victim, who often doesn’t have serious injuries and recovers,’’ he said.

‘‘ Clearly this involves a gross breach of trust. You took some of its meagre resources for your own selfish needs.

‘‘All those people who were benefiting from what the trust was doing and who would have in the future, are continued victims of your offending.’’

Gardener was financially supporting her partner, her son, and her son’s pregnant partner when she defrauded Streets Ahead, her lawyer Charlotte Hollingsworth said.

‘‘Times were tough for her, but that’s no justification for what she did.’’

Because of her poor health, Gardener completed just 47 of 275 hours of community work – her sentence for the Department of Internal Affairs fraud.

Those hours were converted to an extra six weeks’ community detention.