KEY POINTS:
Life parolee Dean Wickliffe has been recalled to prison after facing a raft of charges in Tauranga District Court.
A bail application planned for today by his lawyer Craig Horsley was pre-empted by the order to return behind bars.
When the 59-year-old caregiver appeared before Judge Peter Rollo this morning, a probation officer announced the interim recall had been signed in Wellington yesterday.
The judge remanded Wickliffe in custody by consent in relation to four drug and firearm counts for which he is expected to stand trial. A pre-depositions hearing is set down for April 14.
No pleas have been entered to accusations of possessing cocaine for supply, possessing a pistol and an explosive, plus possessing cannabis plant.
They arose from a police raid on Wickliffe's Maketu home near Te Puke on March 8 during Operation Julia, a national cannabis recovery campaign.
The accused stood calmly in the dock as Judge Rollo then sentenced him to three months in jail and nine months disqualification from driving for unrelated charges of driving while suspended and failing to stop or ascertain injury after an accident.
He pleaded guilty to those counts today, along with one of operating a vehicle carelessly - a fine-only matter on which he was convicted and discharged.
Police prosecutor senior sergeant Stuart Graham told the court Wickliffe had his driver's licence suspended for three months last November due to excess demerit points.
On February 8 - two weeks before he was due to get it back - he was driving at 7pm in the left hand lane of Maunganui Rd approaching the Hewletts Rd flyover where traffic must merge.
Without warning Wickliffe turned his car sharply to the right, through posts marking the boundary between the lanes where vehicles were prohibited to cross.
In an attempt do a U-turn he collided with the left hand side of a vehicle coming off the flyover, causing extensive damage, Mr Graham said.
Wickliffe then drove off without stopping to see if the other driver had been hurt. He pulled up in a nearby street and left on foot.
His partner stayed in the car and, when police arrived, she confirmed that Wickliffe had been behind the wheel.
The prosecutor said Wickliffe turned up at Tauranga Police Station next day. He said the accident happened because he was having an argument with his partner, lost his temper and made the manoeuvre "without thinking."
He left the scene because he did not want to speak to police, knowing he should not have been driving.
Mr Graham said Wickliffe - who was a caregiver for his partner - admitted fault, claiming that he wanted to take responsibility for his actions.
- NZPA
