Grumpy taxman attacked IRD building

An IRD employee drove through the organisation's Christchurch building's front doors during the weekend. Photo / theaxemen.wordpress.com

A disgruntled Inland Revenue employee who intentionally drove through the organisation's Christchurch building has appeared in court.

David Jerrold Theobald, 47, appeared in Christchurch District Court yesterday charged with intentional damage and reckless driving, after driving into the building at 6.30am on Saturday.

The car crashed through two sets of glass doors and smashed a third on the other side of the foyer before coming to a stop.

He was remanded on bail to reappear on August 31.

Theobald, who had worked at IRD for 25 years, told the Dominion Post the incident followed a three-year employment dispute.

He said he was fed up with what he saw as concealment of workplace bullying and incompetent management at Inland Revenue.

"This has been going on for three years, and now I've got four official information requests in with them and they're making that as onerous as possible ... This was just a way to make a gesture."

Inland Revenue would not comment on the incident, but Theobald said he had received a letter from IRD's human resources saying: "Information has come to my attention which indicates that you may have intentionally driven a car through Inland Revenue's Christchurch building ... I am concerned that your conduct may be inconsistent with the Code of Conduct."

- NZPA