Violence and drinkdriving land man in prison Hopes up for beleaguered bird

A MAN who ruined a family farewell by getting drunk and aggressively hugging his girlfriend’s mother explained he was ‘‘easily wound up’’.

Ramon Lee Annan appeared by video link in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, where he was jailed for 20 months for two sets of offences.

The first occurred in December at a party with his partner and her family, which had been arranged because someone was moving to Australia.

After the obligatory photos, the drunken Annan claimed he was going to kill the family.

His girlfriend's mother ordered him to leave the property but later found him in another room.

This prompted another confrontation.

Annan reacted by embracing the woman, and not letting go.

Others had to pull him off and he remained aggressive when police arrived, the court heard.

At the end of March — despite the country being in lockdown — Annan was out driving with a friend in Hillside Rd.

Judge Michael Turner said it was unclear why the pair were out of the house or whether they were part of the same bubble.

When police pulled over the speeding Ford Falcon, they did not have chance to ask.

Annan stopped briefly but took off again before he could be spoken to.

His escape did not last long; he soon failed to negotiate a corner and slammed his friend's car into a lamppost and a tree.

A subsequent breath test gave a reading of 508mcg — more than twice the legal limit.

The woman, who in a statement to the court said she had tried to persuade the defendant to stop before the crash, was left with a bloodied face and torn shoulder ligaments.

She claimed the car was worth $4500 but that was disputed by Annan.

The judge ordered he repay the victim $2500 at $10 a week once released from prison.

The convictions for breaching a protection order, assault, dangerous driving causing injury, aggravated drinkdriving and failing to stop for police were a continuation of Annan's antisocial behaviour, Probation said.

When asked to explain his conduct, the defendant simply said he was ‘‘easily wound up’’.

Judge Turner banned Annan from driving for 19 months.

DEDICATED watchers of Dunedin’s albatross colony, through the Royal Cam live stream, were relieved to see the return of one famous bird following his monthlong disappearance.

The northern royal albatross, known as OGK and father of this year’s Royal Cam chick, returned to his family at Taiaroa Head on Tuesday.

However, the live stream showed he had an injured leg and was struggling to feed his chick.

And the family reunion would be shortlived.

Otago Peninsula Trust marketing manager Sophie Barker said a Department of Conservation (Doc) ranger visited the colony on Wednesday to ensure OGK was safe.

After searching the headland, it appeared he had flown off to sea again.

Ms Barker said despite concerns, it had been a good sign that he could place weight on the injured leg and take off.

‘‘We are hoping the leg injury is superficial, as it is not unheard of for leg injuries to mend naturally on their own.’’

She was confident they would know when OGK returned.

A global audience, including rangers, was keeping a constant eye on the colony through the live stream, which had been set up by Doc in 2016.

‘‘People see stuff we might miss.’’

Over the past month, there had been more than 186,500 views, compared with 87,300 views during the same time last year.

Ms Barker said the purpose of the live stream had been to share the colony’s story with the world, and along with becoming an online ‘‘sensation’’, the albatrosses built a supportive international community who were invested in their wellbeing.

Doc wildlife ranger Sharyn Broni said while albatross chicks relied on both parents to feed them, the Royal Cam chick had been regularly fed by her mother, banded YRK, while her father had been away.

‘‘If parents are absent for several weeks, Doc rangers would normally monitor the chick’s weight and supplementary feed it if necessary.’’

She said Doc had been working through what the implications of moving to Alert Level 3 would be on its work programmes.