Dangerous driver stays in jail, after winning appeal

A man who ran down a person outside a pub has succeeded in convincing the Court of Appeal he was given too harsh a sentence.

But it was a somewhat pyrrhic victory for the man, as he still has to serve jail time.

Michael Robert Pollard was jailed for two years and seven months in April for dangerous driving causing injury to Jesse Minnell and failing to stop after an accident.

That has now been reduced to two years and three months. Both charges stem from an incident in the early hours of October 22, 2016, outside the Red Lion Inn in Whanganui.

Pollard had been socialising there, leaving at 1am. There was no suggestion he was over the alcohol limit.

He drove into Whanganui to buy a meal before going home.

On his way he drove past the inn, where a large crowd had congregated outside.

Police were there, because a fight had broken out between people leaving the inn.

Someone kicked Pollard’s car as he drove past, so he did a U-turn and went back through the crowd to find who hit his car.

He then did another U-turn, accelerated heavily through the crowd and hit Minnell.

Minnell was thrown into the air, landing on his head, while Pollard slowed down for a moment before speeding off.

When sentencing Pollard, Judge Robert Spear said it was a miracle no-one else was hit.

‘‘To accelerate heavily along the road at that time, knowing that there was this crowd outside the Red Lion Inn, was unquestionably highly dangerous.’’

Minnell, a university student at the time, was left with serious head injuries and physical disabilities that will affect him for the rest of his life.

Pollard appealed against his sentence, saying it should have been less than two years’ imprisonment, which could be substituted for 12 months’ home detention. In a Court of Appeal judgment released this month, he was given a victory of sorts – his sentence was reduced to two years and three months’ jail. Justice Denis Clifford said Pollard would have been well aware of the crowd of people on the road, having driven through them twice before hitting Minnell.

Pollard also told police he was not looking straight ahead, instead distracted by people on his left. ‘‘Given that he had already driven through the crowd twice before, the need to do so carefully and mindfully of all those around him must have been obvious,’’ the judge said.