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Police and justice advocates have attacked the community work sentence given to a man who endangered the lives of motorists during a high-speed chase from Papamoa to Rotorua.
Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Ken Evans described the 80 hours of work given to Kane Johnson as horrendous and clearly inadequate, and said Johnson was a "potential bomb tearing around the countryside" during the pursuit.
Yesterday's criticism comes after pursuits were thrust into the spotlight with a spate of serious crashes prompting a police review.
Johnson, 24, drove at 147km/h through a 50km/h area, went through pedestrian crossings, narrowly avoided a head-on collision and carried on with sparks coming from his vehicle after road spikes punctured his tyres.
The chase ended in Rotorua when he hit a lamp-post, snapping it.
Community magistrate Robyn Paterson yesterday disqualified Johnson from driving for six months and sentenced him to 80 hours' community work, as well as ordering him to pay $260 costs.
He was sentenced in the Tauranga District Court after pleading guilty to one charge each of reckless driving, failing to stop for police and resisting police.
Johnson told police who arrested him on July 27 that he had "got to the point of no return and was prepared to do anything to get away".
At 6.40pm on July 27, Johnson was driving south along State Highway 2 in Papamoa and was clocked at 139km/h by a police patrol car travelling in the opposite direction.
The patrol car began following the red BMW saloon and signalled Johnson to stop but he sped up, narrowly missing two vehicles.
Continuing along Parton Rd on to Papamoa Beach Rd, Johnson lost control, hit a raised traffic island, drove over several humps at high speed and eventually through a paddock at the end of Bell Rd.
He drove at 100km/h through Te Puke township, overtaking numerous vehicles along the median strip.
He continued to speed towards Rotorua, running over road spikes and shredding a tyre along the way.
The car was finally stopped by Rotorua police, who blocked off the roundabout at Tarawera Rd and State Highway 2, but not before Johnson's car hit a police vehicle and drove on to the kerb, hitting the post.
Even then, Johnson refused to give up and locked the doors, so police had to smash two side windows and drag him out. He then resisted police when they tried to handcuff him.
Rotorua District Council will be seeking $4000 reparation for the lamp-post.
Detective Sergeant Mel Ridley, director of the Bay of Plenty and Waikato Police Association, was unimpressed with the sentence and the way in which it was handled.
"I would have thought for that type of offence it would have been a judge that sentenced that person.
"I would say that seems to be a clearly inadequate sentence for the danger that he posed to the community at large and members of the police who were required to pursue him. It's hard to see that the community magistrate has taken that into consideration," he said.
"At any given time he was only metres away from causing a fatal motor accident. I don't know what mitigating factors may have been raised but ... that seems like an inadequate sentence."
Mr Ridley believes judges should take into account the pressure officers are under during pursuits.
- Bay of Plenty Times
