Sentencing — obtaining by deception — Hessell v R [2010] NZSC 135, [2011] 1 NZLR 607. The defendant appeared for sentence on 60 charges of obtaining by deception. Over a six-month period he had obtained some $91,000 from an elderly couple, by first convincing them that he knew them and then with a series of fictitious stories of personal troubles. As a result of the offending, the victims had had to re-mortgage their home to get out of debt. The court considered that the offending was initially opportunistic, but after that became planned and premeditated. The victims were vulnerable, being inherently trusting and honest people. There was no prospect that the defendant would be able to repay the money he had stolen. The starting point for sentence was three and a half years' imprisonment, with a twelve-month uplift for the defendant's lengthy list of previous convictions. Given the defendant's behaviour since his arrest, lodging numerous bail applications and rejecting a sentence indication, he was not genuinely remorseful and was not entitled to a substantial discount. However the court awarded a seven percent discount for guilty plea, meaning a final sentence of four years, one month's imprisonment. The court imposed a minimum period of imprisonment of 22 months, saying this was necessary both to denounce and deter the offending, and also to keep the public safe from the defendant. Judgment Date: 16 March 2018.