Man who threatened Probation officer jailed

A MAN who drove the wrong way through a roundabout and caused a crash, ignoring a red light, has continued his wild behaviour up to sentencing.

Richard John Steel (44) pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing injury before the Dunedin District Court after Judge Michael Crosbie told him there was a chance of him getting home detention.

That would be subject to the content of a report written by Probation, the judge warned.

It would be Steel’s chance to show he could be trusted on an electronicallymonitored sentence.

When he met the report writer, however, the conversation did not run smoothly.

The Probation officer described him as ‘‘paranoid and confused’’ during their discussions and when it became clear he was struggling to find an address at which he could do home detention, things deteriorated further.

Steel said he was being targeted by police and his longrunning disputes with ACC meant he had been ‘‘framed and cursed’’.

His demeanour became ‘‘hostile and aggressive’’, the report writer said.

If he went to prison, there would be consequences, Steel said.

When asked to elaborate, he said: ‘‘that’s for me to know and for you to find out’’.

He ranted about his children being victims

He told the officer ‘‘I’ll use yours as a victim if I have to’’.

And the threats did not end once the meeting was over.

Steel bombarded the writer with messages that continued his abusive thread.

On August 13 last year, the defendant drove his Nissan the wrong way through a South Dunedin roundabout, drove on the wrong side of the road, overtook other vehicles, some on the wrong side, all within a short space of time.

As he approached the Hillside Rd intersection with King Edward St he careered through a red light and slammed into a car being driven by a 61yearold woman.

She suffered whiplash injuries, bruising and chest pain which kept her off work for a week.

The victim told the court she remained nervous about driving and repeatedly recalled the ‘‘deafening noise’’ of the collision.

There was a glimmer of hope for Steel.

A psychologist’s report, though highlighting his feelings of persecution, described him as ‘‘intelligent and articulate when sober’’.

‘‘Deep down, Mr Steel is a thoughtful, caring man,’’ the psychologist wrote.

‘‘[He has] much to offer if halted from his current course of selfdestruction.’’

Judge Crosbie, however, agreed with Probation, saying it was inappropriate for Steel to serve his sentence in the community.

He was jailed for 16 months and banned from driving for two years.