A New Zealand judge has given two Israeli cocaine smugglers sentencing discounts after they claimed the October 7 Hamas attack gave them PTSD and affected their decision-making.
Roy Etan, 31, and Itay Senyor, 37, faced Auckland District Court for sentencing last month where both sought a 15% sentence reduction for October 7 trauma and mental health.
The pair travelled to New Zealand from Tel Aviv in February last year and picked up a shipment of cocaine concealed in food and cosmetic products that had been brought in by a Chilean flight attendant, and then extracted 5kg of the drug at 85% purity using items bought from a hardware store.
Senyor’s phone showed he then discussed selling 1kg of the drug for $145,000, of which he was to receive no more than $6,000, but both men were arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to possessing a Class A drug for supply, The New Zealand Herald reported.
Their lawyer Ron Mansfield KC told the court the Israelis were not motivated by financial gain, but trying to “escape the realities of what they were going through” after October 7, and said they were being used as “foot soldiers” who stood to receive a minimal reward.
Mr Mansfield said October 7 made the men more likely to take risks, and said: “They were getting away from the trauma they were experiencing.”
The Crown argued that while the attack would have had a significant impact, there was no “causative link between that and the offending”, which it described as “premeditated, planned and sophisticated offending”.
Judge Nevin Dawson said that while it seemed there was little connection between the Hamas attack and the men’s decision to fly to New Zealand to sell drugs.
“I have to say that what happened in Israel that day is appalling. It doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone in Israel went out and committed drug offences in other countries like you chose to do,” he said.
But he noted reports showing both grew up with ADHD and suffered PTSD from supporting October 7 survivors went some way to explaining their choices, and gave a 10% sentencing discount, taking into account Senyor being impacted by the death of friends in the attack, and Etan being near Gaza at the time and also impacted by the death of friends.
Judge Dawson also found both had shown limited remorse, telling the pair: “You’re sorry for yourself, you don’t appear to have any sympathy for the people who would be badly affected by these drugs.”
The offence carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, but Judge Dawson set Senyor’s starting sentence at 10 years, and Etan’s at eight as he claimed he did not know about the smuggling plot before arriving in New Zealand with Senyor, but got involved anyway.
Etan, who tried claiming he had no criminal history but had convictions for drugs and conspiracy, was given a 25% discount for his early guilty plea, 10% for October 7 and mental health, and 5% for limited remorse and rehabilitation for a total of four years and eight months.
Senyor was given a 25% discount for the early guilty plea, 10% for October 7 and mental health, 5% for previous good character, and 5% for limited remorse and rehabilitation, resulting in a final sentence of five years and four months in jail.
Header image: Auckland District Court (Google Street View).
The post Judge gives Israeli drug smugglers lighter sentences for ‘October 7 trauma’ first appeared on The Noticer.
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