Judge denies man’s request for jail term

A northern Southland man asked a judge to send him to jail when he was sentenced for his crimes.

The judge replied with a blunt ‘‘no’’. Allister Russell Bell, 32, of Riversdale, appeared in the Gore District Court yesterday on charges of careless driving, assaulting police, refusing a blood specimen and possession of a cannabis pipe.

Judge M Callaghan said that at 1.20am on December 9, Bell had been at a house where he had been drinking since 7pm.

The people at the house tried to stop him driving but Bell became abusive and drove his car into a fence on the driveway. When he got out onto the road, he accelerated, lost control and drove into another fence, where his vehicle became stuck.

Bell drove back to the house, dragging wire from the fence behind him. There, he pushed a police officer and resisted arrest when he was on the ground.

At the police station he refused to allow a blood specimen to be taken and when he was searched, a small metal cannabis pipe was found.

Bell’s lawyer, Simon Claver, said Bell had two previous drug convictions and the possession of the pipe was ‘‘not the crime of the century’’. Bell wanted to pay for the damage to the fences, he said.

‘‘You clearly don’t know how to control a motor vehicle,’’ Judge Callaghan told Bell.

‘‘You have previous convictions for careless use, sustained loss of traction and failing to stop after an accident. Your behaviour on that night was atrocious, both by driving and then assaulting a police officer.’’

Judge Callaghan sentenced Bell to nine months’ supervision with special conditions, 200 hours’ community work on each charge of refusing a blood specimen, possession of a cannabis pipe and assaulting a police officer, to be served concurrently. On the careless driving charge, he was disqualified from driving for 10 months. An order was made for the destruction of the pipe, and he is to pay $500 reparation to the owner of the fence.

When Bell was told to stand down, he twice said ‘‘just send me to jail, please,’’ but Judge Callaghan refused.