Another week before motorcade decision

It will be a week before the ruling on the court case into the Prime Minister's high-speed motorcade.

Judge John Strettell reserved his decision yesterday at the end of the eight-day trial in the Timaru District Court.

Four police officers, a diplomatic protection squad officer and a civilian driver had all denied a range of charges as a result of the high-speed driving of Helen Clark's motorcade from Waimate to Christchurch in July last year.

Judge Strettell will return to Timaru on August 19 to give his decisions.

The police facing charges are Alister James Doonan, 50, of Timaru; Simon Raymond Vincent, 32, of Ashburton; Ian Howard, 36, of Timaru; and Clinton Brian Vallender, 43, of Waimate.

Doonan, Vincent and Howard all face dangerous driving charges. Howard faces an additional charge of driving too closely and Vallender is charged with being a party to dangerous driving and an alternative charge of causing dangerous driving.

The civilian driver and diplomatic protection squad officer both have interim name suppression.

The driver faces charges of dangerous driving, careless driving and following too closely, and the diplomatic protection officer is charged with being a party to dangerous driving and alternative charges of causing dangerous driving.

Although other road users might have been startled, they were not frightened or terrified, Norm Scott, counsel for Doonan, Vincent and Howard, told the court in his final submissions.

He said there was no doubt the motorcade was speeding, but the driving was not dangerous. The journey was made safely and ended safely.

Peter Doody, for the civilian driver, said it was surprising that no complaints were made by passengers on a bus whose driver claimed he had to lurch to the left in the face of the oncoming motorcade.

Crown Solicitor Tim Gresson told the court the drivers did not have the authority to drive the way they did. "The mind just boggles at what could have occurred [if there had been a crash], especially because of who was involved."