House bus driver drunk on cough medicine
A man has been jailed for the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse and exploitation materials.
Nigel Maurice Urwin, 43, was sentenced in the Palmerston North District Court yesterday to five years and nine months in prison for the distribution and possession of objectionable material. He pleaded guilty to nine charges.
The material, found on five devices, included images of children being sexually exploited.
The charges had a starting point of nine years in prison but Urwin had no aggravating factors and received a discount for an early guilty plea.
He also had three months deducted for remorse and willingness to undergo treatment.
The starting point was the highest in New Zealand history for possession of this kind of objectionable material by a person with no relevant criminal history.
A Department of Internal Affairs investigation revealed Urwin accessed almost 4000 child sexual abuse files, a large number of which depicted young children.
Internal Affairs digital safety director Jolene Armadoros said the group was committed to education and prevention.
‘‘The internet is a wild and challenging beast but our team of dedicated and experienced investigators are determined to rid the digital world of these horrific crimes and protect the children who are forced into these abusive acts,’’ Armadoros said.
Internal Affairs worked with the police, Customs, global partners and social media platforms to find people who offended against vulnerable members of society, she said.
‘‘Education and prevention are a large part of what we do, and we encourage people who are looking for this material to seek help.
‘‘If you make, view, or distribute child exploitation material, you will be caught and prosecuted.’’
According to the summary of facts, Urwin distributed 109 objectionable images and video files depicting the sexual abuse of young girls between July 30, 2016, and November 3, 2017.
Urwin distributed the material through secure messaging social media app Viber, sending images of children being raped and involved in bestiality.
He also discussed the pornography via the app with another user.
Urwin also had two profiles, across two smartphones, on another social media app called Kik, where he encouraged parents to send him sexualised photos of their children.
He also spoke to users who claimed to be under 16 and encouraged them to send him sexualised photos.
He distributed material through Kik and discussed having sex with young children.
Urwin was ordered to register as a child sex offender. It was a dark and stormy night when the driver of a 6-tonne gypsy bus intoxicated on cough medicine was seen bouncing off safety rails.
Shane Sergeant had just downed a toxic dose of a home-made remedy to cure a bout of pneumonia when he decided to drive his Hino house bus north on State Highway 57 between Levin and Shannon.
In the Palmerston North District Court on Thursday, Sergeant was sentenced to six months’ home detention and disqualified from driving for six months.
Motorists saw his bus swerving across both lanes and reported Sergeant when he lost control of the vehicle, which had scraped along the safety railing.
Police found him parked in a rest area two kilometres up the road, where he blew 789 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.
The legal limit is 250mcg. Officers confiscated Sergeant’s keys and escorted him to the nearest police station, where they disqualified him from driving for a month.
They agreed to drive him back to his house bus so he could sleep off the alcohol, but Sergeant managed to start the vehicle and continued his northbound journey.
Police then received multiple calls of a bus crossing the centre line and, at one point, narrowly avoiding a head on collision before ploughing into another safety barrier and smashing its headlight.
‘‘The bus was seen sideways, across both lanes, and drove without headlights until it stopped in Shannon due to the damage it had sustained,’’ Judge Jim Large told the court.
‘‘You drove knowing you had excess breath alcohol only one hour after being put on notice by police.
‘‘You endangered yourself. You endangered other road users.’’
Sergeant’s bus was impounded and he had been in custody since June 1.
He had a long history of drug and alcohol offending and has been part of Narcotics Anonymous for nine years.
‘‘You should not have been on the road.
‘‘Surely it should have hit home when you were processed earlier that night. You were clearly on notice.’’
Sergeant spoke to Stuff in 2018, when he was freedom camping on empty land on Rangitı¯kei St, until he could afford to renew his warrant of fitness and fix a cracked windscreen.
The Kiwi nomad has travelled with a fair for years, parking up wherever he could.