District Court

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 10, 30 July 1985, Page 5

District Court

★ District Court ★ District Court ★

The following cases were heard by Judge E. W. Unwin in the Ohakune District Court on

Thursday 25 July. Sgt. Neil Coker appeared for the police and Traffic Sgt. R. A. Buchannan of Taumarunui appeared for the Ministry of Transport. ★ ★ ★ George Ashford Pekamu, 18, unemployed of Ohakune, appeared for sentencing on three charges of breaking and entering the Waimarino Golf Club at Makaranui on 12 May, 26 April and 29 April this year with intent to commit a crime. When Pekamu appeared on these charges at last month's district court hearing he was remanded on bail for a probation report and sentence and to give him an opportunity to find work and make restitution of $304 for the alcohol stolen from the Waimarino Golf Club. At this month's sitting His Honour commented that it was regrettable that the defendant had shown no improvement in attitude nor any serious attempt to find work. These latest charges had followed a series of offending since 1983. Pekamu was sentenced to a period of corrective training on all three charges. ★ ★ ★ Darrell Shane McLeod, 22, opossum skin buyer of Ohakune, was charged with two offences committed on 17 May namely: did drive a motor vehicle on Wangaehu

Valley Road while disqualified; did drive a vehicle without a warrant of fitness. Evidence was given that McLeod was seen driving on Wangaehu Valley Road by a traffic officer but that the defendant had stopped, reversed and then climbed out from behind the driver's seat. The only other person in the car was a child. The defendant, who had been disqualified from driving, explained that he was driving from his home to gain access to a nearby farm property. He was convicted and fined $400, court costs $35 and was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 12 months. ★ ★ ★ Dallas Clayton Elers, 17, market garden labourer of Raetihi, appeared for sentencing on charges of burglary, driving while disqualified and dangerous driving. He had earlier pleaded guilty. Elers had taken two vehicles and driven them while disqualified and only five days after he had appeared in the Taihape District Court on excess blood alcohol charges. The defendant had driven one of these vehicles at high speeds through roadblocks on and off the road causing damage totalling $4,349 to the vehicle. Damage to the other car amounted to $500. In sentencing the defendant His Honour said that his behaviour had displayed some of the worst aspects of a young person's driving, with bravado and boredom

playing a major role. It was one of the worst cases to come before him. His Honour said that the defendant had driven at speeds of up to 150 kph on the open road and at 120 kph through Ohakune "where people lived." He had driven through a police roadblock and through fences into a field where he had then run off. His Honour said that he was "not impressed" with the defendant's remark that "he couldn't care less" when apprehended but he would have considered a commun-ity-based sentence had not these offences occurred only five days after Elers had been convicted and fined in the Taihape District Court. This had demonstrated a total contempt for the court. Elers was sentenced on all three charges to a period of corrective training. He was represented by Mr D. G. Harvey. ★ ★ ★ Tony Anthony John Pikari, 18, unemployed of Raetihi, appeared for sentencing on charges of burglary, theft, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, driving while disqualified, driving a motorbike without wearing a safety helmet. Pikari acknowledged, through his counsel, that he had an alcohol and drug problem and would undergo rehabilitation treatment as a voluntary patient if given the opportunity. His counsel, Mr P. Brown, said the defendant "was a lonely man with very few friends having worn out his welcome with most of them." On 4 May Pikari had stolen a Hillman Hunter valued at $1500 from Waipawa and sold it in Raetihi for $70. On 5 May he had driven a motor vehicle in Seddon Street, Raetihi while disqualified. On 10 May he broke and entered the Raetihi Borough Council offices and stole some dog collars. On 1 June he took a Peugot motorcar from Ohakune and drove on SH49 while disqualified.

His Honour said that Pikari had totally misinterpreted the former leniency of the court by thinking he had been granted a licence to do anything. He was contemptuous of the court's sanctions and a jail sentence was inevitable. Pikari was sentenced to youth imprisonment for nine months on all charges, disqualified from driving for 12 months, with 12 months probation to follow. ★ ★ ★ Maria Vicky Condon, 32, housewife of Raetihi, faced 1 2 charges of false pretences. She pleaded guilty to all charges. Condon was charged with issuing cheques which had been obtained from a bank account without the knowledge of her budget adviser. These were presented in "Raetihi and Ohakune during May and June despite an overdraft of $254. A total of $496.68 was involved and compensation 'has since been paid. Defendant was remanded for sentencing to the 22 August on bail of $400. She was represented by Mr D. G. Harvey. ★ ★ ★ The case brought by the Department of Labour against three Ohakune farmers on overstaying charges was again stood down for two months. Ann Elizabeth Gardner, Thomas Henry Bail and Sandra Jane Bail were remanded at large to appear in the Ohakune District Court on Thursday 26 September. Mr D. G. Harvey represented them on behalf of their Wanganui solicitor Mr P. M. Hankins. Continued on page 12

★ District Court ★ District Court ★ District Court *

Continued from page 5 Malcolm Bowring, 1 8, unemployed of Taumarunui, pleaded guilty to intent to defraud by selling a car which had been bought from a motor dealer in Tauranga on 15 January and which was subject to a hirepurchase agreement. He had sold the car, a Fiat valued at $600, for $180 in Raetihi having made no payments to the motor dealer in Tauranga other than the initial deposit. On 20 May he took another vehicle, a Holden utility valued at $4000 and drove it to Tauranga where

he sold it with the aid of registration plates and papers from the first vehicle. Bowring is subject also to a warrant of committal issued at Taihape for nonpayment of fines imposed in May. He was convicted and remanded in custody for a probation report and sentence to the Ohakune District Court on Thursday 22 August. ★ ★ ★ Owen James McLean, 22, labourer of Ohakune, appeared for sentencing on two charges of driving while disqualified to which he had earlier pleaded guilty. His counsel Mr D. G. Harvey, said that both offences had occurred in somewhat unusual circumstances. The defendant had driven from Miro Street to Rata Street in Ohakune on 23/""' May, the day he had bg£n disqualified at the OhaJcune District Court, to retjurn a vehicle he believed; was required urgently wy its owner. \ On 1 2 June defendant.had driven a vehicle on SHl at T urangarere after being told by his employer that he\ would be committing no offence by driving it in a construction zone. This showed a lack of understanding of the law by the employer and was therefore not a deliberate flouting of the law by the defendant, said Mr Harvey. Defendant was fined $ 1 00, court costs $35 and disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence for six months. ★ ★ ★ Paul John Wilson, 30, painter and paperhanger of Ohakune, pleaded guilty to a charge of driving with excess blood alcohol and driving a motor vehicle on 24 May not being the holder of a licence authorising him to drive a vehicle. Defendant was breath tested and found to have a proportion of alcohol in his breath of 1050 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath when he was stopped for excessive speed.

He also admitted that he had never held a driving licence. He was convicted and fined $375 and disqualified for 12 months on the first charge and fined $40 for not having a driving licence, court costs $35 on each charge. ★ ★ ★ Mark Anthony Simons of Auckland, pleaded guilty by letter to a charge of driving a motorcar (a Mitsubishi) on the Ohakune Mountain Road on 15 September 1984 without chains fitted when notices requiring the use of chains were displayed. Mark Levett Carter of Palmerston North, pleaded guilty by letter to a charge of driving a motorcar (a Holden) on the Ohakune Mountain Road on 30 Septembef l^KA wrtKQTJkc ha i ns * fitted when notices reqWing the use of chains were oisplayed. Carter's vehicle sudsequently got stuck, blockep the road and had to be moved by several bystandere. Each were fined $65 and $50 solicitors fee. Mr D/G. Harvey appeared for the Waimarino Countv/Zouncil. ★ ★ ^•Shane fjevme Harvey, 24, forestry foreman of Raetihi, pleaded guilty to assaulting Michael Donovan Douglas outside the Raetihi Hotel. Through his counsel, Mr D. G. Harvey, defendant explained that he was having a verbal altercation with his girl-friend on Seddon Street, Raetihi, on 6 July when complainant intervened in the dispute.

Defendant had told Mr Douglas it was no business of his and punched him. His Honour said that such behaviour seemed to be out of character with the defendant and probably was the result of alcohol. He was convicted and fined $240, court costs $35 and ordered to pay half the fine to the complainant. ★ ★ ★ Michael Wayne lehuia, 23, labourer of Ohakune, pleaded guilty to an assault on a female during a domestic incident on or about 3 July. Defendant admitted that he had too much to drink. The couple were now living apart. He was convicted and remanded on bail of $500 to 22 August for a probation report and sentence. ★ ★ ★ Julian Alexander Patrick Taylor, 18, labourer of Ohakune, appeared on a charge of careless driving. Through his counsel, Mr D. G. Harvey, defendant admitted that it had been stupid to drive on the footpath in Clyde Street, Ohakune on 24 May. Mr Harvey said that defendant was now working in a garage and asked the court to impose a sentence that would not seriously interfbre with his prospects as this was his first offence. Defendant was convicted and fined $65, court costs $30 and disqualified from driving for a period of 30 days from 1 August 1985,