A boozy 8km golf cart ride

A trio who took a golfcart on an 8km joyride during a booze-fuelled crime spree paid the penalty after being sentenced to supervision and alcohol abuse counselling.

Matthew Apperley, 23, Michael Graham, 19, and Daniel Collier, 18, all of Katikati, were also sentenced to community work after pleading guilty on November 18.

According to court documents, their offending began when they drove to a Caltex service station after drinking together.

They pumped $52.50 into a Honda Accord station wagon driven by Graham, and left without paying - hitting a forecourt attendant.

Police said the attendant was not injured, but Graham drove off at high-speed, heading for an address on nearby Kea St.

On the way he mounted a kerb and hit a fence before hiding the car in a garage.

About an hour later the trio were back in the car and deliberately drove over two letterboxes on their way to Golf Pacifica, an 18-hole course on 75ha.

Graham and Collier took turns skidding over the course, damaging fairways and greens until the car overheated.

They abandoned it opposite the course before returning to the club and entering the greenkeeper's shed.

They stole a four-seater golfcart and drove it back to Katikati, about 8km away.

Senior Constable John Fitzgerald said the trio ditched the cart down a bank and ran back to the Kea St address.

When police spoke to Graham the next day he couldn't remember all the details of the night because he had been "extremely intoxicated", said Fitzgerald.

In the Tauranga District Court the men pleaded guilty to burglary and shoplifting. Graham also admitted two charges of wilful damage and careless driving. Collier admitted charges of wilful damage and driving while disqualified.

Lawyer Peter Attwood represented the men and said they had admitted they were "binge drinkers" and any help to address their alcohol problems would be "happily received".

He said they accepted equal responsibility for the damage, totalling more than $500.

Judge Peter Rollo sentenced the men to nine months' supervision and ordered them to attend alcohol-abuse counselling. The three were also banned from driving - Apperley for six months, Graham for four and Collier for an extra six on top of his existing disqualification.

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