Dillan Jay Pattinson has pleaded guilty to an antisemitic and homophobic attack on a pink church on the West Coast.
The church, named Gloria, on Packer’s Quay in Blaketown, Greymouth, is owned by poet and artist Sam Duckor-Jones and is a public artwork and “a temple of non-denominational queer celebration”.
It was scrawled with antisemitic and homophobic messages, including a death threat, on June 2.
A rainbow flag staked on the front lawn was also set alight.
Dillan Jay Pattinson, 20, pleaded guilty to one charge of intentional damage in the Greymouth District Court on Wednesday.
The police summary of facts said Pattinson was one of four men who planned for weeks to vandalise the building.
It was commonly known that Duckor-Jones was part of the LGBTQ community and raised in a Jewish household, the summary said.
The men allegedly dressed in black clothing, including black hoodies and cloth masks, and went to the property with red spray paint and a black permanent marker at 11pm.
One of the men, who has not yet appeared in court, allegedly took a rainbow pride flag, attached it to a piece of wood and partially burned it. He then stayed in the car as a getaway driver.
Pattinson wrote “dancing Israelies” and a symbol of the Star of David underneath in marker on the wall.
Another man, who has not yet been charged, wrote biblical quotes, antisemitic messages and drew crosses.
They left, drove to the back of the Greymouth Aerodrome and changed their clothes.
Police believed it was “a hate crime”, the summary said.
It asked the court to take that into account when sentencing and for the driver to be disqualified from driving because his car was used in the offending.
Pattinson’s defence lawyer, Doug Taffs, said Pattinson accepted the charge and had written a letter to the court.
He said police had initially said they would consider diversion but that had been rescinded “at a national level due to the public interest involved”.
Diversion is a scheme operated by the police that allows first-time offenders to take responsibility for their offending outside the court system and avoid getting a criminal record.
Taffs told the court Pattinson wanted to apply for a discharge without conviction.
Judge Jane Farish said she wanted Pattinson to have a restorative justice conference with Duckor-Jones.
Restorative justice conferences are face-to-face meetings during which victims can tell offenders how the crime affected them and offenders can take personal responsibility for their actions. The process, run by trained facilitators, only takes place with the consent of both the victim and the offender.
The judge remanded Pattinson for sentencing in September.
Duckor-Jones said, after court, he was keen to be involved in the restorative justice process.
NZ Jewish Council spokesperson Juliet Moses said hate crimes against the LGBTQ and Jewish communities were on the rise in New Zealand.
“Targeting someone’s home in the way they did, it is awful and threatening. It is a serious crime that does not only attack that person, it makes them feel unsafe,” she said.
She said she was in favour of a restorative justice approach to educate offenders which could help reduce the chance of them reoffending.
“Trying to get those young men to understand what they have done wrong and how it has affected the victim and the two communities involved,” she said.
