Last updated 19:40, May 7 2018
MARTIN DE RUYTER/STUFF
A man was sentenced in the Nelson District Court for wilful damage and speaking threateningly.
A man was sentenced in the Nelson District Court for wilful damage and speaking threateningly.
A dad kicked down the door of a drug dealer to get his son out and clean of his methamphetamine addiction.
Cain Phillip Nelson-Clark, 26, appeared in the Nelson District Court on Monday, and his father sought permission to address the court.
The dad said he first heard of his eldest son's erratic behaviour in January. He dealt with several agencies to try and get help for his son but said kept "running around in circles", so out of "fear and frustration" he took matters into his own hands.
"In the end I literally kicked the door in of the P dealer and found him in there and dragged him out of the property," he told Judge David Ruth.
Nelson-Clark's father said he took his son away in his motorhome where he was out of reach of any of his contacts in order to get him off the methamphetamine.
"He went through that real hard period, it was a horrible thing to watch. He's now four months clean and as the counsellor said, I've got my son back."
Lawyer Kelly Hennessy said Nelson-Clark - who admitted charges of stealing petrol, threatening behaviour and intentional damage - was lucky he had a father who had been able to intervene, get him off methamphetamine and help him get a job.
Judge Ruth said it was clear that as a result of drug use, Nelson-Clark's mental state and behaviour had deteriorated over a period of time.
A police summary of facts said earlier in the year, Nelson-Clark sent his mother a video that led her to become concerned for his safety and mental wellbeing.
On February 7, he was at his mother's home in Levin when he asked money for cigarettes. His mother refused and he became agitated and verbally aggressive, threatening to burn the house.
His mother then left her home with her 14-year-old son and Nelson-Clark proceeded to cause damage to the garage. He locked himself inside the house and was later arrested by police.
On February 21, Nelson-Clark drove away from a petrol station in Levin without paying for $100 of fuel.
Ruth ordered Nelson-Clark pay $100 reparation for the theft of petrol and sentenced him to three months community detention on the intimidation charge and six months supervision on the intentional damage charge. He also ordered Nelson-Clark attend and complete an addiction counselling programme.
He said a pre-sentence report confirmed what Nelson-Clark's father had told the court.
"To your credit you have been abstinent for some time now and anyone who has any interest in you can only hope that would be something that continues."