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Offender Databases Vincent Allan

Vincent Suru Allan

Alias

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Offences

Indecently assaulted two Chatham Islands women in 2001
Two previous convictions for indecent assault in November 1995

Victims

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Offender Affiliations

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Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1971

Current Location

unknown

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to eighteen months in January 2002

Background
THE PRESS, 11th January 2002
Even when he gets out of prison, Vincent Suru Allan had better not go back to the Chatham Islands. He would not be safe there, after admitting indecently assaulting two women who were asleep in their beds. Judge Stephen Erber said in the Christchurch District Court that he had received a report from the Chatham Islands constable outlining the way the islanders viewed Allan. "You are not welcome in the Chathams," said the judge. "The constable advises me that sexual offences are virtually unheard of in the community and the reaction of the community has been very much against you."

Allan is a 30-year-old from Papua New Guinea who had been working in the Chatham Islands fishing industry. When he appeared for sentence yesterday, defence counsel Bridget Ayrey told the court the offending followed an argument with his employer about the running of the fishing operation. Feeling under-valued, frustrated, disappointed, and abandoned, Allan went on an all-day drinking binge on beer and vodka, and he had been using cannabis in the previous days.

During the night -- he has no recollection of the events himself - - he entered an unlocked house where he touched two sleeping women as they lay in their beds. He stroked one on her leg, and the other between her breasts and down to her hips. Ms Ayrey said Allan recalled feeling lonely and depressed, and believed he had gone to the house seeking drinking companions. The women had been touched only outside their clothing. "There was no violence other than that which is inherent in this type of offence," she said.

Allan had no plans to return to the Chathams, and wished to go to Papua New Guinea to set up his own fishing company. "In the absence of alcohol, he is able to contribute a great deal to the community and society as a whole," she said. Judge Erber noted that Allan had two previous convictions for indecent assault in November 1995, when he had been released on supervision. The latest offending was serious for Allan because it invoked the tough anti-home invasion provisions. He believed Allan must have given some drunken thought to the prospect of sexual connection of some sort with the women.

"The fact that you were drunk explains but does not excuse your behaviour," said the judge. For the two indecent assaults, Allan was jailed for 18 months and a shorter concurrent term was imposed for the theft of a surfboard. Judge Erber refused to suspend the prison term. "I think the public would look askance at a suspended sentence where a man enters a bedroom and assaults two sleeping women," he said. "And because of your predilection for this sort of offence, I am not prepared to entertain home detention."

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Corrections and Additional Information
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