Angry digger driver: Appeal dismissed in case of hitting council officer's car

An aggravated yellow digger driver was found guilty after the 20-tonne digger he operated damaged the car of a council officer. Photo / 123rf

An agitated digger driver who damaged a council officer's car when he wouldn't move it out of the way will have to carry out his full sentence after an appeal was denied.

In 2020 Leslie Fugle was operating a 20-tonne digger when he intentionally damaged the vehicle of council officers who were undertaking a subdivision compliance inspection.

In December 2021, Fugle was found guilty of intentional damage and sentenced by Judge Stephanie Edwards in the Palmerston North District Court.

The digger driver was sentenced to two months of community detention, 150 hours of community work and to pay $5000 by way of emotional harm reparation.

Video footage of the incident taken by one of the officers showed Fugle in the big yellow digger, banging its bucket on the ground in an intimidating manner.

The footage also captured Fugle swinging the digger bucket over the vehicles where the officers were standing.

Fugle appealed against his sentence on the grounds that it was inappropriate and excessive.

Defence lawyer Paul Murray argued the offending occurred in the heat of the moment, resulting in a single collision with the council vehicle which was merely a glancing impact, although still causing considerable damage.

But in a judgment released today, Justice Brendan Brown said Fugle's offending was not merely momentary, and instead involved an escalating situation, in which there were a number of opportunities available to take an alternative course of action.

The judgment said the sentencing clearly reflected the high level of recklessness
that Fugle's conduct involved.

"We do not consider there was any material error in the judge's reasoning or that the sentence could be said to be manifestly excessive in the circumstances," Justice Brown said.