Picton Airbnb raided while owners in Rarotonga for son’s wedding
Wednesday, 3 June 2026
What should have been a joyous trip to Rarotonga for their son’s wedding instead became a scramble to secure their Picton property after a work vehicle was taken and tools went missing while they were away.
Those events were recounted in the Blenheim District Court on Tuesday as Phillip Tupara Roberts, 37, was sentenced on eight charges including unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property and breaching court-imposed conditions.
Roberts was sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment, but Judge Bill Hastings found he had effectively already served that sentence through time spent in custody and on electronically monitored bail and ordered his release subject to 12 months of release conditions.
Before sentencing, a Picton woman told the court she and her partner learned of the offending while in Rarotonga preparing for their son's wedding.
The couple were informed by police the day before the wedding and were forced to organise repairs, secure their home and determine what had been taken before Airbnb guests were due to arrive at the property.
Reading a victim impact statement, the woman described the offending as “extremely upsetting and invasive” and said the emotional impact outweighed the value of the property involved.
She said the loss of the work vehicle and tools affected her partner’s ability to work, resulting in a loss of income, and contributed to a decline in his health and wellbeing.
“It was an invasion of our private space,” she said.
Hastings agreed the emotional effect of the offending extended well beyond the value of the property involved.
“I think the most significant part of this victim impact statement is her describing the invasion of their private space, and the fact that it was done by a local,” he said.
The court heard Roberts was being sentenced on charges dating from December 2024 to January 2026, including obtaining by deception, theft from FreshChoice Picton, receiving stolen tools valued at more than $4000, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, receiving a vehicle registration plate and three breaches of court-imposed conditions.
Corrections also applied to cancel an earlier sentence of 200 hours’ community work and six months’ supervision imposed for possession of cannabis and possession of a methamphetamine pipe.
Probation staff told the court Roberts had completed just one hour of the community work sentence, leaving 199 hours outstanding.
Hastings adopted a starting point of 10 months’ imprisonment for unlawfully taking the vehicle, which he described as the lead offence.
He then added uplifts for the receiving charges, obtaining by deception, shoplifting and the breach offences before allowing discounts for Roberts’ guilty pleas and matters raised in a pre-sentence report.
The judge said Roberts had spent significant periods in custody between April and September last year and again since January, with a period of electronically monitored bail in between.
After accounting for that time, Hastings concluded Roberts had effectively served the sentence imposed.
Roberts was released subject to 12 months of release conditions, requiring him to attend and complete any departmental and alcohol and drug treatment programmes directed by probation and not possess or consume alcohol or drugs unless prescribed by a doctor.