Fleeing drivers sent to jail

Judge Duncan Harvey

A judge sent three drivers who fled from police to jail within an hour with a strong rebuke that those who fail to stop for blue and red flashing lights will go to prison.

Judge Duncan Harvey sounded the warning in the Whangarei District Court yesterday, saying jail is an inevitable outcome for fleeing drivers who have appeared before him.

Among those who bore his wrath was Ricki Buisman who, with two adults and a two-year-old child in the car, reached speeds of 104km/h and 140km/h in 50km/h residential areas in Whangarei. He was a disqualified driver and was in breach of his parole conditions when he refused to stop for police in Tikipunga about 11.30pm on November 4. He accelerated towards an intersection on Station Rd in Kamo, drove through a red light, narrowly missing a vehicle, and hit a kerb, before stopping on Tuhangi St.

Judge Harvey said the adult passengers yelled and pleaded for Buisman to stop and pull over for their safety and that of the child.

Buisman's lawyer, Melissa Russell, said he genuinely wanted to turn his life around and that a suitable home detention address was available.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Stu Wilkes said Buisman's driving was a disaster waiting to happen. "He was fortunate to appear on these charges. If he had hit another car or a child, he would have been up on a manslaughter charge."

He said Whangarei and the entire country needed to be protected from such reckless driving which he described as an "absolute nonsense". Judge Harvey agreed.

"Courts need to send a very clear message that if people don't stop when police ask them to and then go on to commit other offences, they will go to jail," he said.

Buisman was sentenced to three months' jail on the charge of reckless driving and a further three months for breaching his parole conditions by consuming alcohol and drugs.

Another driver, Andrew Jellick, was sentenced to two years on the lead charge of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle. Other charges including burglary, driving recklessly, failing to remain stopped and failing to stop were factored into that sentence. A police officer removed the keys from a car he was driving in Kamo on November 9 and instructed him to remain stopped but he used a screw driver to start the vehicle.

The officer who attempted to stop him was dragged several metres before being thrown free from the window. A short time later, Jellick stole a car from Tikipunga and when located by police on Western Hills Drive, he drove through several side streets in the Avenues area, reaching speeds of 100km/h.

Samuel Crowther was the third driver to appear in court on similar charges. He stole his mother's car during an argument with her and drove at speeds exceeding 130km/h on State Highway 1. Police were forced to abandon the pursuit.

Crowther was jailed for six months on a charge of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and a cumulative term of three months for dangerous driving.