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A former Palmerston North police constable has been sentenced to seven months home detention over a dangerous driving incident which injured a prisoner.
Timothy Edward Hesketh appeared for sentence in the High Court at Palmerston North today after a jury found him guilty after a trial in October.
The charge related to an incident on November 4, 2007, when 46-year-old Mark Edwards was arrested for trespassing during a domestic dispute.
While en route to the police station Hesketh slammed on the brakes of a police wagon leaving Mr Edwards in the back badly injured.
The Crown alleged Hesketh's actions were responsible for the breaking of two of Mr Edwards' vertebrae.
It left him with loss of sensation and paralysis of all four limbs, the jury was told.
Mr Edwards, who is unlikely to ever recover fully from his injuries, told TV3 tonight that he thought Hesketh was "fortunate to get away so lightly after putting me through this pain for the rest of my life.
"There's bad eggs in every walk of life, believe me I came across a full tray of them that night."
Justice Ronald Young told Hesketh the consequences of his driving could not be ignored.
"Mr Edwards has very serious injuries at your hands that will stay with him for the rest of his life and affect him in serious ways," he said.
- NZPA
