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Offender Databases Vetelo Mapusua

Vetelo Jerome Mapusua

Alias

.

Offences

Carjacking and aggravated wounding of a Wellington woman in November 2005

Victims

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Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1988

Current Location

At large

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to just 3 years 6 months in September 2006
Released October 2008

Background
Dominion Post story 26/09/2006
An 18-year-old carjacker who beat a car owner till she "played dead" has been jailed for 3-1/2 years. "This is the greatest piece of vicious applied stupidity one could imagine," judge Denys Barry said as he sentenced Vetelo Jerome Mapusua in Wellington District Court on charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated wounding. On November 24, Mapusua, of Lower Hutt, was at Wellington railway station waiting for a train when he decided to steal a car. He and two girls, aged 15 and 16, went to the Clifton Tce car park, off The Terrace, and lay in wait for a victim. Mapusua, who weighed about 100 kilograms, tackled a slightly built woman as she walked away from her car.

One of the girls sprayed her in the face with perfume while the other put a cloth over her head. The woman, in her 30s, was dragged across the car park, and to stop her from screaming, Mapusua repeatedly punched her in the face till she "played dead". Mapusua and his accomplices then got in the car and when their victim got up and gave chase, he drove through the car park barrier arm. Police were called and stopped the car nearby. Judge Barry said the woman was "absolutely terrorised". She now feared car parks and Samoan youths. Mapusua delivered the beating which was a deliberate attempt to cause loss of consciousness, the judge said. A starting point for sentencing would be seven years, but he reduced that because of Mapusua's age, his early guilty plea and his motivation to reform.

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Corrections and Additional Information
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