The Kaitaia backpacker’s business used by Michael Harris to access young
males he then drugged and photographed has been seized as ‘an instrument’ used
to further crime. Sold in a mortgagee
sale, the High Court ordered $17,700 of the net proceeds be paid to the Crown.
Harris was
sentenced to eight years jail after pleading guilty in 2016 to offences against
18 males. As owner and manager of
Mainstreet Lodge he befriended male backpackers, stupefied his victims and then
photographed them naked or partly clothed.
The offending came to light when one backpacker went to the local
hospital confused and feeling unwell. Urine
tests identified the presence of temazepam and oxazepam.
The Crown
obtained a court order under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act taking
control of shares in Harris’ company owning Mainstreet Lodge. Sale proceeds were confiscated using the
Sentencing Act. The Lodge was sold in a
mortgagee sale netting a total of $70,860.
Justice Wylie ruled the Lodge was property used to facilitate crime. Harris selected victims from those staying at
the Lodge. He used offers of free
accommodation and food in return for cleaning and caretaking as a means of
befriending his victims. Operation of
the Lodge facilitated his offending. The
Lodge was not simply a place where offending took place.
Justice
Wylie ordered that twenty-five per cent of the net proceeds from sale of
Mainstreet Lodge be forfeit to the Crown.
The balance of some $53,000 is available to Harris when his sentence
finishes. The court was told Harris will
then be in his sixties.
R. v. Harris – High Court (28.02.18)
18.045