The 4-year-old daughter of a Mongrel Mob associate has picked up the “terrifying” habit of barking like a dog.

On Tuesday, Tony Mills appeared in the Hamilton District Court for sentencing on 13 dishonesty charges, but it was the impact his gang ties were having on his daughter that shocked Judge Kim Saunders.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how distraught I would be if my 4-year-old daughter started barking like a dog,” the judge said. “That comes only from the Mongrel Mob.

“The Mongrel Mob have not one pro-social bone in their collective bodies, you know that. Your daughter at 4 years is already picking up habits that should terrify you.”

Judge Saunders said there was no guarantee the child would not grow to see the Mongrel Mob as an exciting prospect if she remembers her life as a child.

Mills, 28, earlier accepted a sentence indication relating to the dishonesty charges, nine of which related to shoplifting around Hamilton, including stealing a $1649 Dewalt nail gun from Mitre 10 on July 8 last year, a $1500 drone from Harvey Norman a week later, and $1000 worth of power tools from Bunnings on July 31.

On other occasions, items were taken off him before he got out the door.

Judge Saunders said his thefts totalled around $5500.

Mills also admitted a November 2020 charge of receiving a Giant mountain bike worth $1500, which he sold to Cash Converters for $100.

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However, a stand-down report, completed by a probation officer familiar to him, saved him from going to prison, despite her initial impression to recommend a jail term.

Mills’ counsel, Elisa Saunders, said it wasn’t until the officer started speaking with her client that she realised he was genuine about changing his life, something she had also noticed in conversations.

She said since his last release from jail he had changed his thought processes about sentencing, and rather than just wanting to get it done, now realised the impact of his actions on his daughter.

Saunders urged the judge to follow the recommendation of supervision.

The judge agreed, telling him: “essentially, Mr Mills, I have been asked to take a chance on you”.

He had no address to go to so she couldn’t give him an electronically monitored sentence, meaning it was either jail or supervision.

She took into account the probation officer doing a “180 turn around” from prison because of Mills “showing real signs of appreciating the consequences of your gang association, the consequences of drug use and offending”.

The judge urged Mills to stick to his promise if not for his sake, “then for the sake of your daughter”.

“You have been drug-free for the past two months, and well done for that. If you can continue in that way then everything is going to look much brighter. If not, then it’s just a repeat back to your old ways and back to prison.”

Mills was sentenced to 14 months of intensive supervision and 100 hours of community work.

His sentence would also be judicially monitored.

Belinda Feek has been a reporter for 19 years, and at the Herald for eight years before joining the Open Justice team in 2022.