Topless Dio prankster avoids conviction

It was meant to be a bit of harmless end-of-year fun when Shannon Jorjia Read and three friends rode topless on motocross bikes through the grounds of Hamilton Boys’ High School.

But things rapidly got out of hand for the 17-year-old Waikato Diocesan School for Girls student when – unbeknown to her at the time – the foot pedal of the bike she was in control of clipped the leg of Boys’ High student Kyle Kirsten, causing a gash that required 12 stitches.

Read only found out about the injury she had accidentally inflicted when reading about the reaction to the end-of-year prank afterwards, on social media.

But her shock on learning of the effect of her actions on November 1 last year was just the start of a shockwave of consequence.

Read and the other students who took part in the topless prank became the subject of national media attention, and she was charged with careless driving causing injury. Footage of the stunt was also distributed far and wide on social media.

She was suspended from school for the remainder of the year, and banned from attending the annual graduation ball. She was also forced to write letters of apology to Kirsten, the staff and students of Boys’ High, and her fellow Diocesan students, warning them against emulating her feat.

It was a wave of consequence that came to an abrupt end in the Hamilton District Court on Friday when she was discharged without conviction on the careless driving charge.

And community magistrate Stevan Cole also dismissed a request from the police for Read to face some form of disqualification from driving as the penalty for her charge, which she pleaded guilty to at her first appearance.

Read had never meant to cause any harm, Cole said, and she had to contend with the ‘‘ignominy and shame’’ of having to face her grandparents and other relations, in the light of what she had done.

‘‘You had not thought this through. If you had, we would not be here now.’’

It was about 12.50pm on November 1 when Read and the other pranksters rode dirt bikes through the grounds of Hamilton Boys’ High School wearing just underpants, shoes and helmets.

The girls, who were riding back to back on three bikes, had timed their escapade through the school grounds and on to the sports fields for the lunchtime break and were seen by dozens if not hundreds of Boys’ High students.

Kirsten, 17, was playing soccer with other students and did not see the bikes coming when he was hit.

The police obtained footage from a GoPro camera that was dropped on the ground when one of the girls fell off the bike after hitting and injuring the boy.

Read’s counsel Mike Talbot said his client was aware of the ‘‘hugely exceptional circumstances’’ of her offending and was extremely remorseful.

She had successfully enrolled for a Bachelor of Teaching degree at Waikato University, however her ultimate inclusion in that programme was still dependent on the outcome of her court case, Talbot said.

Read had also offered to take part in a restorative justice conference with Kirsten and his family. They however, had declined as they simply wanted to leave the matter behind them.

Cole concurred and said it was evident Read’s victim bore her no malice and she had taken every available step to mitigate her situation.

The gravity of the offending was low and the widespread publicity of the incident had already been penalty enough, he concluded.

‘‘The consequences have already been taken to the point where they are out of all proportion,’’ he said, granting the application for a discharge without conviction.

Cole did not deem Read to be a risk to the public through her driving.

‘‘I don’t consider there is any need for a disqualification.’’