‘Big boys playing with little toys’ ends with man in court

A man who crashed a child’s go-kart into his mate has ended up with a drinkdriving conviction.

Judge Stephen Doyle said it was an evening of ‘‘big boys playing with little toys’’ which brought Dean John Armiger, 48, of Christchurch, before the Alexandra District Court yesterday.

He was fined $500 and disqualified from driving for 12 months for driving with a breath-alcohol level of 459mcg.

Armiger had been drinking with three friends at a unit attached to the Highlands Motorsport Park in Central Otago on January 31 when they decided to do time trials around the surrounding road on a privately owned go-kart.

They were the only people in the restricted area as the other units were in the process of being constructed or were empty.

The judge said the man’s actions were irresponsible and no different from a person driving while drinking on a quiet rural road at night.

‘‘It really seems to be a case of big boys playing with little boys’ toys. Clearly, this go-kart was designed for people a lot smaller than yourself and it has kilowatts of 5.5 which (lawyer Russell Checketts) tells me is a lot less than his ride-on mower.

‘‘It was your turn to do a lap around the road. Your mate decided he would go into the pool room and get chalk and draw a line across the road. As he stepped out on the road to do so, you came racing up and were unable to avoid him and knocked him to the street.’’

The victim suffered bruising to his leg, a cut to his head that required stitches and concussion. He required a night’s hospital stay.

Checketts argued the judge should consider the special circumstances including the limited number of people in the area and the fact it was a social activity involving a low-powered vehicle.

‘‘It was a combination of most unfortunate circumstances. There are no hard feelings between the victim and himself.

‘‘ They are a little astounded he got charged . . . There was no intention in the normal sense of drink-driving,’’ Checketts said.

‘‘This was not a go-kart owned by Highland Motorsport Park and it wasn’t being used in the park or in any of their facilities. ‘‘It was just guys having a bit of fun. ‘‘I can never see the set of circumstances like this coming before the court again.’’