Dangerous driving case judged among worst

A driver who fled along a Porirua beach, with police cars in pursuit, took part in one of the worst pieces of dangerous driving a judge has ever heard of.

Wellington District Court Judge Peter Butler was sentencing Hoani Wiremu Bennett, 20, yesterday after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, failing to stop, unlawfully getting into a car, and breach of community work.

‘‘The dangerous driving was one of the worst I have heard in 14 years of sitting,’’ the judge said.

He said Bennett showed utter indifference to the risk he posed to himself, the police, members of the public and other road users.

People on the Titahi Bay beach, including a small child, had to get out of the way of the speeding car on November 23 last year.

Bennett had taken his sister’s car after an argument. Police spotted him on Main Rd, Titahi Bay. He did not stop when they activated their lights and sirens.

He led police through the streets, sometimes driving on the wrong side of the road, at first topping 80kmh and then speeding up to 100kmh. Police said he overtook several vehicles on the wrong side of the road, narrowly missing an oncoming car. Bennett drove on to the footpath to avoid spikes police had placed on the road.

Numerous times he put members of the public at risk, police said.

Then Bennett drove on to Titahi Bay beach, narrowly missing a small child. When he left the beach, police tried to use their cars to block him, but Bennett drove straight into one police car and then reversed into another.

Still he kept going, with other vehicles having to avoid him when he entered a roundabout the wrong way.

He ran from the car on Takapuwahia Drive. When a police dog was sent after him, Bennett jumped on the back of a motorbike being ridden by a man he knew. The motorbike reached speeds of 100kmh in the built-up area so that police lost sight of him. They found him again on the beach and followed the bike until it stopped at the intersection of Bay Drive and Whanake St, where both men ran off. Bennett was caught.

The judge had intended to give Bennett a nine-month jail term but after hearing from his lawyer about the amount of time he had already spent in custody, he said Bennett had already effectively served over six months. He ordered Bennett to do intensive supervision which would see him do courses and counselling.

He also disqualified him from driving for nine months.