Car sponsor dumps Carter for drink-driving
Dan Carter has lost a lucrative sponsorship with a car company because of his drink-driving charge.
Carter was caught driving in Paris with an excessive bloodalcohol level last week and faces a court appearance.
The fallout now includes glamour car manufacturer Land Rover dumping the All Black great who is playing in France’s Top 14 championship.
Carter confirmed the development on his Facebook page yesterday, saying: ‘‘Over the last few days my management and I have had to front up to my sponsors. Not surprisingly, Land Rover, who for good reason have zero tolerance towards drink driving, have ended their relationship with me. I understand this completely and am disappointed I put them in this position.’’
Carter, who is battling a leg injury that has made him unavailable for French club Paris Racing, has returned to New Zealand.
He hasn’t dodged the controversy. He used his Facebook page last week to confirm his driving indiscretion, admitting he’d made ‘‘a massive error of judgment’’.
British manufacturer Land Rover has a high profile in rugby, being a major sponsor at the last two World Cups, in New Zealand and England.
Carter, 34, was part of the All Black teams that won both of those tournaments. His efforts in help- ing New Zealand to their third title in 2015 earned him World Rugby’s player of the year award.
He retired from international rugby after the 2015 tournament as the game’s highest points scorer in tests, and shifted his focus to Paris with a mega deal at Racing 92.
He had a squeaky clean image until last week’s fateful night in the 17th district in Paris, near the Champs-Elysees, when he was stopped by police, allegedly speeding, not carrying a driver’s licence and recording an alcohol level of .98g/l, well above the legal limit of .5g/l. – Fairfax NZ
Hand left hanging
A man’s hand was left ‘‘just’’ hanging on after a machete attack at a home near Dunedin, police said yesterday. Senior Sergeant Alastair Dickie said police responded to reports a man’s hand had been cut off by a machete. A man was arrested outside the house after being confronted by police dogs and officers. Asked if the hand was still attached he replied, ‘‘just’’. ’’It is a fairly serious injury.’’ A woman was in the house at the time of the incident. Police had been unable to locate the weapon as yet, he said. Family members could be seen seen visibly upset outside the address following the incident in Taieri Beach Rd about noon. No charges had been laid yet. Dickie said the injured man was taken to Dunedin Hospital.
Stole to pay for drugs
One man’s drug-fuelled victimisation of residents of a Christchurch suburb has ended in spectacular fashion with 43 guilty pleas. David Ronald Cribb, a 24-year-old painter, told police he carried out the thefts of goods worth thousands of dollars from parked cars in Halswell driveways at night last year to pay for his $100-plusa-day drug habit. The Halswell man admitted a total of 43 charges in the Christchurch District Court yesterday: 39 thefts, one of receiving, one of obtaining goods by deception and one of unlawfully taking a car. About 50 more charges were withdrawn after agreement between the police and defence counsel Carol Morgan. Judge Sharon McAuslan remanded Cribb in custody for sentencing on May 3. A pre-sentence report will be prepared, and Cribb may meet his long list of victims at a restorative justice meeting. Before some of the charges were withdrawn, Cribb’s offending amounted to $140,000, but one of the charges police dropped yesterday was the theft of $78,000 of power tools and laser levels.
Big cannabis haul
Cannabis plants that police say would have yielded $3 million on the streets have been seized in a West Auckland bust. Police said they were initially tipped off about a ‘‘sophisticated’’ large-scale commercial cannabis operation by an anonymous member of the public. They searched four West Auckland properties, where they found and seized more than $100,000 in cash and 160 mature cannabis plants. Detective Sergeant Kelly Farrant said some plants had already been harvested and were ready for sale when they were seized. Police believed the cannabis had an estimated street value of $3m.
Doctors reach settlement
The country’s district health boards and the NZ Resident Doctors Association agreed to a settlement yesterday for junior doctors. The DHB bargaining team will recommend settlement to chief executives at a meeting tomorrow before the deal is confirmed by union members. The drawn-out talks have lasted more than a year.