Case: [2014] NZHC 1592

For a first tagging offence involving just a single case of tagging and with no permanent damage, you’d normally get a fine of between $100 and $200.

However, you may qualify for diversion (where the police agree to drop the charges against you if you admit responsibility and satisfy some conditions) or be able to get a discharge without conviction. Alternatively, the judge may order you to go back to court for a sentence if called upon within a set time, usually six or nine months (this is sometimes called a “suspended” sentence).

As the tagging gets more extensive and serious, a community-based sentence like community work might be imposed.

Case: HC Gisborne CRI-2008-416-2, 15 February 2008

For example, a defendant was given 50 hours’ community work for tagging two school buildings in three places with vivid markers. In the defendant’s favour was that he’d paid $100 in reparation and that his one previous criminal conviction wasn’t for tagging.

If your case involves serial tagging or previous tagging convictions or both, the penalties will usually be more serious, involving longer community-based sentences, and even prison terms in the most serious cases. For example:

Cases: [2012] NZHC 938  HC Napier CRI-2008-441-8, 5 May 2008

HC Christchurch CRI-2009-409-000059, 7 May 2009; HC Napier CRI-2011-441-35, 25 October 2011

150 hours’ community work was given for tagging two buildings with orange paint, costing over $1,000 to repair. The judge said the defendant hadn’t responded to lesser terms for previous tagging.

Four months’ community detention was given for a one-night “tagging spree” involving 22 counts of intentional damage for etching tags on windows, and 21 counts of tagging for spray-painting buildings. The defendant had some previous tagging convictions. He was also sentenced to nine months’ supervision and 200 hours of community work, and had to pay $12,000 reparation.

Four weeks’ imprisonment was given for tagging two buildings on one day and two others several months later, as four separate charges of intentional damage. The tagging cost over $1,000 to repair, and the defendant had also admitted other tagging over several months.

14 months’ imprisonment was ordered for 476 charges of tagging, which were charged as intentional damage. The cost of removing all the tags had been $82,000. The defendant also had to pay $15,000 reparation.

Cases: [2015] NZHC 1799 [2012] NZHC 1665

Where tagging is done, and what the tag is, can also make the charge and/or the penalty more severe. For example:

• A defendant accused of tagging gang insignia in a District Court stairwell was convicted of wilful damage under the Summary Offences Act and given four weeks’ imprisonment. The judge said this was “a contempt of Court and an incitement to others”. (Apparently the fact that it was a gang insignia rather than just a personal tag was also an aggravating factor, and not just that it was done in the courthouse.)
• A defendant was convicted of intentional damage under the Crimes Act for a single etched tag into the prism glass (lens) of an old lighthouse that was maintained by and important to the local community for its historical value. He was given four months’ community detention and 200 hours community work.

Note: The sentence you get can also depend on what town or region you’re in. For example, the courts in Hawke’s Bay tend to deal with tagging more harshly than in other parts of the country.