Victim of hit-and-run driver nearly died, says judge
A father-of-four had to undergo seven operations to treat injuries suffered when another man rammed his vehicle into him in an early morning attack in Timaru.
Jayden Leonard John Gardner, 27, kept driving and evaded police for two weeks following the incident on April 4, 2019.
Meanwhile, the victim was in hospital with internal damage to multiple organs including his spleen, liver, and bowel, serious ligament damage to both knees, and a broken arm and shoulder.
‘‘It could be five years before I can go back to work because if I lift anything heavy, there is a chance I will tear my stomach and cause a haematoma or hernia,’’ the victim told the Timaru District Court in a victim impact statement read by members of his family.
‘‘This has turned me away from my family and torn us apart. I couldn’t stand my kids watching me, thinking I could die.’’
Gardner, of Kerrytown, was sentenced to seven months’ home detention with judicial monitoring and disqualified from driving for two years when he appeared before Judge Joanna Maze yesterday.
He had pleaded guilty to reckless driving causing injury, offering to supply methamphetamine, and possessing methamphetamine and utensils for using it.
Crown prosecutor Andrew McRae said Gardner arrived at an
Old North Rd address to find the victim and a group of men had damaged a vehicle parked in the driveway, about 5am on April 4, 2019.
‘‘Police believe the incident was in relation to trying to obtain methamphetamine,’’ McRae said.
Gardner got in his four-wheeldrive and travelled west down the street, where the group had retreated. They began pushing wheelie bins into his path.
The victim was also standing in the road. The defendant drove straight at him, knocking him to the ground.
‘‘He did not slow down or stop,’’ McRae said.
‘‘He drove to an address in St Andrews and told an occupant he had hit a deer.
‘‘He texted another associate around this time, saying he had damaged his truck by driving into a small mob of sheep.’’ Police visited the St Andrews address on April 17, after learning Gardner had been going there, and discovered the damaged vehicle.
Police arrested Gardner the next day. They found 1.3 grams of methamphetamine and a smoking pipe under the driver’s seat of the vehicle he was caught in, as well as evidence on his phone he had been organising a drug sale.
Judge Maze said it was ‘‘no exaggeration’’ to say the victim, who spent six weeks in hospital, nearly died from his injuries.
‘‘His victim impact statement makes for distressing reading.
‘‘You [Gardner] could have avoided him. Instead, you drove straight at him.’’
Judge Maze said Gardner would need to attend drug and alcohol counselling and any other treatment directed by his probation officer.