GISBORNE DISTRICT COURT NEWS

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A WOMAN pleaded guilty to three driving charges in Gisborne District Court, and the court was told the driving with excess blood alcohol charge was her fourth and the most serious of the present charges.

Andrea Lyn Dawn Eva Paul was charged with careless driving, driving with excess blood alcohol and driving while disqualified.

On the careless driving charge she was convicted and discharged. On the other charges she was disqualified from driving for a year and a day and sentenced to 240 hours of community work with supervision for six months.

The court heard that on February 11 this year Paul was driving along Awapuni Road, which was heavy with traffic at the time. She lost control of her car, which skidded, hit a farm fence and overturned. She was taken to hospital and found to have a reading of 205mg per 100ml of blood.

Counsel Jackie Van Schalkwyk submitted that Paul's sentencing start point should be a term of imprisonment of 13-15 months, but that could be commuted to an electronically monitored sentence. She submitted a letter from Paul's employer, and one written by Paul herself expressing remorse. She submitted that the alcohol-related offending had only occurred in the last couple of years, and asked the court to impose a sentence of community work and supervision.

Judge Warren Cathcart said Paul had an extensive criminal history but not with alcohol-related driving offences. The aggravating features of this incident, he said, were the high level of intoxication, her fourth conviction and that she was already disqualified from driving.

“You do pose a risk to other road users — not only yourself but many others — as there was a heavy traffic flow at the time,” he said.

He set a starting point of 16 months imprisonment, but accepted her “genuine expression of remorse”. He deducted more time from the sentence for her guilty plea. He said he was not prepared to make her personal circumstances public but deducted three months for those factors and urged her to seek counselling.

“I don't want to send you to prison today but there will be a substantial amount of community work,” he said.

He commuted the sentence to 240 hours of community work with supervision for six months.

A MAN who “simply drives when not permitted to” faced the consequences of his actions in court.

Jacob Hilton Rangi had five similar previous convictions and Judge Warren Cathcart sentenced him to 160 hours of community work with 12 months of supervision, disqualified him from driving for 12 months and ordered him to attend an appropriate counselling programme.

Rangi's counsel Vicki Thorpe told the court that alcohol had played no part in any of his offending.

“He displayed no pro-criminal or self-entitled attitudes, he is remorseful, has shown insight and shows full responsibility for his actions,” she said.

Ms Thorpe submitted that community work and supervision would be a suitable sentence for Rangi, and that he would have weekends available for community work.

On April 7 this year Rangi was stopped by police for speeding. He was clocked at 93kmh in a 50km zone along Roebuck Road. His explanation was that he was taking his mates home,

“He was the sober person and chose to get his mates home safely and he chose to drive,” Ms Thorpe told the court.

Rangi had no other criminal history, and Judge Cathcart observed that he did not appear to have any anti-authoritarian attitudes.

“But you do have a problem obeying court orders, and that's serious because as they mount up, it shows the judge you are dealing with an offender who disobeys the courts,” he said.

“In your case you have five prior convictions, between 2014 and 2021 . . . you have no pro-criminal or self-entitled attitudes, and the fact you don't is refereshing.”

A MAN facing his 10th driving conviction had a record spanning 30 years, the court was told.

Paraire Ranapia, 56, pleaded guilty to driving with excess breath alcohol and of driving contrary to a zero alcohol licence. He was sentenced to community detention for six months, followed by supervision for a further six months. His licence was disqualified for one year and one day.

Ranapia's breath alcohol reading when he was stopped on May 27 this year was 509mg of alcohol.

Judge Cathcart noted that the bulk of Ranapia's offending was historical, so it would not necessarily lead to a high sentencing starting point.

“There is a disturbing feature in the pre-sentence report,” the judge said.

“It says he seemed to be more upset that police randomly pulled him over, missing the fact that he was drink driving and putting everyone else at risk.”

“The police don't randomly pick on you,” Judge Cathcart told Ranapia. “They stop people at random stops and you got caught there. There's a need for an attitude change.

“If you committed a further offence it would be three in relatively close succession, and then you would find the (sentencing) starting point would leap to a term where you would inevitably face prison,” he said.

The judge discounted Ranapia's sentence for his guilty plea and for his personal circumstances, which included supporting a partner with health issues.

“I know you might think you don't need help but you do,” he told Ranapia.

He set the community detention at the maximum of six months as a deterrent measure.

THE judge told a man appearing in court on an excess breath alcohol charge that he lacked any appreciation of the risk he was posing to others.

Tieke Peneha Jack Robinson was sentenced to community detention on the morning of April 1 this year, and in the afternoon he was stopped at a routine traffic stop with a reading of 920mg per litre of breath.

He was disqualified from driving for a year and a day and sentenced to five months of community detention to start on October 1, after his present detention expires.

A man who has pleaded guilty to four charges including driving with excess breath alcohol and causing injury did not appear in court.

Counsel Jackie Van Schalkwyk said Joseph Tupari Ratahi was now living in Ruatoria and she had no contact details for him. A pre-sentence report was ordered.