Handyman’s lucky break

A Whanganui handyman who thumbed his nose at court orders and got behind the wheel after his driver’s licence was revoked has escaped further punishment for his offending.

Glyn David Ackroyd appeared before Judge Dugald Matheson in the Whanganui District Court on February 14 charged with driving while disqualified.

Ackroyd, who first appeared in court on the charge in December 2022, pleaded guilty to the offending and was subsequently convicted and discharged by Matheson.

There were no sentencing notes available, but Matheson’s decision was confirmed by the court.

Two months before the offending, Ackroyd had been disqualified from driving for 13 months after he sped through an intersection and slammed into a car, seriously injuring two men, in December 2021.

Ackroyd fled on foot, leaving an injured passenger in his ute who he later tried to blame for causing the crash, and without checking on the victims in the car he hit.

One of them suffered concussion, cuts to his arms and hands and spent two days in hospital, while his brother sustained serious injuries including collapsed lungs, fractures to his spine and pelvis, a ruptured hemidiaphragm, a broken jaw and a displaced spleen and stomach.

He had urgent surgery to repair the organs, and was admitted to critical care at Whanganui Hospital before being transferred to Wellington.

He had to wear a neck brace for six weeks, was in a wheelchair for six weeks and had to use crutches for another six weeks. He also had three metal plates inserted into his jaw.

He was still undergoing treatment when Ackroyd was sentenced in October 2022.