Star Thompson jailed after smashing car through Richmond home, narrowly missing couple

Star Thompson appeared for sentence in Nelson District Court on charges linked to her driving while high on methamphetamine and smashing her car into a retired couple's home. Photo / Tracy Neal

A woman who drove her car into a retired couple’s house later told police, “It was gangsta — I just drove straight in there”.

Today, Star Thompson was sentenced on charges linked to her smashing her car into the Richmond house late one night, and narrowly missing the bedroom where the couple were asleep.

Moments before the crash, she was seen hanging out the car door as she drove along Hill St in the Tasman District town with her headlights off.

She was then seen swerving across the road towards a road worker before driving through a fence and a sliding door into the house.

The car stopped in the couple’s kitchen, causing $24,000 in damage.

Thompson later told police she was “high on meth” and that her foot got caught under the accelerator.

She was sent to prison for 12 months. Photo / Tracy Neal

Judge Tony Snell said in sentencing her to 12 months in prison that it was lucky no one was hurt or killed and that Thompson had been “an immense danger to herself and the public”.

Thompson, who appeared in the Nelson District Court via audio-visual link from Christchurch Women’s Prison where she has been in custody, had earlier admitted charges from September 8 this year of intentional damage (with risk to life), plus assault with a blunt instrument, dangerous driving, refusing an impairment test and a trespass charge from an incident at another Richmond property.

It was around 11.30pm when Thompson was seen driving along Hill St by a road worker who noticed her headlights were off, and that she was hanging out the door.

He waved to alert her but as she approached the worker she swerved, went through a fence and into the couple’s house.

Thompson got out and as she walked away, she picked up a broken metal fence post and waved it menacingly while yelling at the road workers: “I’ll take you all on.”

She then threw the pole, narrowly missing a worker.

Thompson claimed she had not been aiming at anyone in particular.

She was arrested but at the police station, she refused a compulsory impairment test.

Judge Snell noted Thompson’s 37 previous convictions since 2007, including threatening and disorderly behaviour, and said a pre-sentence report assessed her as being at medium risk of reoffending.

Reports into her background revealed exposure to “significant trauma” and violence after what began as a stable childhood.

Judge Snell said the recommended discounts on sentencing arrived at an eight-month prison term, but he was mindful of the victims and the need for public protection.

“You driving around while high on meth was a recipe for absolute disaster.

“The only positive to come out of this is that no one was hurt or killed.”

The judge said the reparation schedule showed $24,283 worth of damage to the house, which she had no ability to pay, leaving the owners “significantly out of pocket”.

From an adjusted starting point of 22 months in prison on all matters except the trespass charge, including an uplift for Thompson’s previous offending, Judge Snell gave credit for her guilty pleas and background factors before arriving at 12 months' imprisonment.

He said he was “not so sure” about any remorse, despite Thompson’s apology letter to the victims.

She was sentenced on the lead charge of intentional damage with risk to life, with prison terms on the other charges to be served concurrently.

On the trespass charge, Thompson was convicted and discharged.

Judge Snell said because methamphetamine use was behind the offending she was granted leave to apply for home detention, in a residential treatment facility if space became available.

Thompson was also disqualified from driving for 18 months.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.