A man had to leap on to a car roof to avoid being run over by another car which subsequently smashed through a concrete power pole and careered into a Blaketown house, knocking it off its piles.
In the Greymouth District Court yesterday, Ruatapu man Bradley James Wall was fined $1500 and ordered to pay Westpower $5700 reparation for the pole after he admitted charges of driving with excess breath-alcohol and dangerous driving.
Wall, 21, was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.
The court heard that Wall had been drinking at a Blake Street property when he decided to go for a cruise about 8.50pm on November 9. He drove south as far as the Greymouth aerodrome and then turned, driving back along the street at double the 50km/h speed limit.
At the intersection of Reid Street and Blake Street the car started to fish-tail.