A man who hired a portable cabin, but then fell behind in payments, sold it through a social media sales site to an unwitting buyer – for a bargain.

Joshua Turner sold the $34,500 cabin to a buyer on the West Coast for $8000 plus the expenses he charged to have the cabin moved to an area where she could collect it.

Turner, 34, has had an initial year-long sentence commuted to six months’ home detention, so he could pay reparation of just over $13,000 to the victim and the company from which he hired the cabin.

Judge Tony Snell said in sentencing him in the Nelson District Court that repaying the money as quickly as possible was the best way to put the victims right for the offending that was “unbelievably brazen and blatant”.

“You advertised. You knew what you were doing and you went down the track, including exploiting [the victim] once she had paid you $8000 with extra costs added on,” Judge Snell said.

The woman who bought the cabin said in her victim impact statement that the money she had lost was “substantial” to her and her family.

“I put my trust in this person that he would do a fair exchange for the money. I had no idea the cabin was stolen. I had to return it, and I now have no cabin and I am down $9350.”

Joshua Turner hired a portable cabin like this from Hireworx in the South Island, then sold it on Facebook Marketplace for a bargain. Photo/Hireworx

Turner has admitted a charge of theft over $1000, two charges of obtaining by deception and a charge of causing loss by deception over $1000.

The court heard that on June 11 last year, Turner signed a 12-month agreement with the South Island division of Hireworx New Zealand – which leases machinery, vehicles, and cabins – for the lease of a portable cabin.

Weekly payments were set at $107.

The cabin was delivered to Turner’s address in Kaiapoi, Canterbury.

Less than two months later, he was $428 behind in payments, and the contract was ended by the company soon after.

Police said Turner was told the cabin would be collected the following week, to which Turner replied they could “collect the cabin later that month”.

In September, Turner listed the cabin, worth $34,500, for sale on Facebook Marketplace for $5000.

A woman who lived on the West Coast messaged him about it and, after negotiations, they agreed on a price of $8000.

She made an initial payment that day of $4000 directly to Turner’s bank account.

The next day, September 13, Turner requested the remaining $4000 be transferred into his account because his vehicle had broken down and he “needed the money”, police said.

The woman transferred the balance, then asked about the location of the cabin for collection.

Turner told her the cabin was stored at an address in Kaiapoi, and that he was being charged $150 a day by his landlord to store the cabin there, which meant he had incurred $750 in fees she would need to cover.

The woman paid the money, despite Turner not being charged by his landlord for storage, police said.

Because the cabin was in a location where the woman was unable to collect it, Turner told her he could get the cabin moved to an area on the street where it could be picked up.

He said it would cost $600 because of the fee incurred by the company he planned to use to shift it.

She paid the money into his bank account, and Turner then used his landlord’s vehicle to move the cabin at no charge or cost to himself and kept the $600.

Hireworx then contacted Turner last November to say the cabin would be collected the following week.

Turner said it had already been collected and asked them to stop contacting him.

He was later arrested and charged.

Judge Snell said Hireworx retrieved the cabin from the woman who had bought it off Turner, but was down $3760 because it needed to restore the cabin a complete state.

“It does not account for all of the difficulties they had having to track it down and not getting paid by you,” Judge Snell said in ordering reparation of $9350 to the woman and $3760 to Hireworx.

He urged Turner to address the causes of his offending, and to stop “drifting” and make something of himself.

“Let this be the turning point and just get on with changing your life around, get yourself a job, move ahead.

“Offending in this way will always get you caught, and it will always see you suffer in the end,” Judge Snell said.

He would now monitor Turner’s file to ensure he repaid “every cent” of what was owed; otherwise, he would be resentenced and sent to prison.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.