Motor mouth Supercar owner claims ‘extreme hardship’
Real estate agent convicted of drink-driving told a court he couldn’t get by without his luxury wheels. Amanda Saxton reports.
A high-flying Auckland real estate agent who lost his licence for speeding and drink-driving claimed he would ‘‘suffer extreme hardship’’ if he couldn’t legally drive his Aston Martin for six weeks.
Ray White agent Ricky Cave had his driver’s licence suspended in April last year after being caught speeding twice and having breath alcohol in excess of the 250mcg legal limit but under 400mcgs.
Cave applied for a limited licence one month into the three-month suspension, claiming he couldn’t afford not to drive his Aston Martin Virage, which go for as much as $335,000 brand new, as it was part of his ‘‘brand’’.
Taking into account Cave’s luxury sports car, five properties, and $300,000 annual earnings after tax, presiding Judge June Jelas declined his application.
She said that his loss of licence – for the second time – was the inevitable result of racked up charges.
Cave, in his early 30s, is in a relationship with reality TV star Chrystal Chenery a former contestant on the Bachelor NZ.
His personal website describes him as an ‘‘elite agent’’, and his social media accounts brim with pictures of himself on yachts, in helicopters, on tropical holidays – and photoshopped into pictures with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Cave told the court that being without his Aston Martin was ‘‘a really bad look’’ in the eyes of highend clients; it affected his ability to work, and in turn earn the commissions that made up his income, he said.
The car, coloured Orange Madagascar and displaying R CAVE as its number plate, is a dominant feature in promotional footage of the properties Cave proffers.
Hiring a driver was not an option, he said, because his insurance company would not allow it. He claimed leasing another vehicle for a temporary driver to operate would be beyond his financial means.
He estimated it would cost a weekly $4785 – at $55 an hour, 14.5 hours a day, six days a week – just to hire a driver.
Judge Jelas described Cave’s estimate as ‘‘overstated and excessive’’.
‘‘It would seem most unnecessary for Mr Cave to hire someone from 6.30am simply to drive him to the office and wait for up to three hours before he heads off to client meetings,’’ she said.
I barely have enough savings and any extras gets put back into a property management business that has only been operating a few months.
She also noted that ‘‘somewhat unusually’’ Cave’s insurance company hadn’t confirmed its caveats for drivers with the court.
Cave detailed his monthly expenses in two separate affidavits, written within 11 days of each other but with the second’s tally more than double the original sum of $21,050, ‘‘well in excess of his stately monthly income of $25,000’’, Judge Jelas said.
She opted to treat the expenses figures ‘‘cautiously’’ as their disparity was not justified.
Cave’s biggest outflow went into mortgage repayments and running costs for his $1.4 million Orakei home, a $430,000 bach in Pauanui, and three rental properties.
Maintaining both the Aston Martin and a Range Rover his mother drove was his next biggest expenditure.
‘‘I barely have enough savings and any extras gets put back into a property management business that has only been operating a few months,’’ Cave’s second affidavit read.
Judge Jelas pointed out that since Cave ‘‘elected to enter into a new business at a time when his licence was about to be suspended’’, he could have foreseen how a licence-less spell would impact it.
‘‘I am not satisfied Mr Cave will suffer extreme hardship if a limited licence is not granted,’’ she said.
She highlighted that objectivity, not an offender’s self-perception, was key to reckoning the level of suffering a ruling would cause.
Cave and his licence have since been reunited and yesterday he refused to comment on the hardship he experienced without it.
Since 2014, any driver with a breath alcohol reading of over 250mcg but under 400mcg receives a $200 fine and 50 demerit points.