Expensive night out

A Highbank man had an expensive night out in the first week of January after a "difficult encounter" with police.

Judge Savage ordered Jake Mckenzie Johnston to pay $1075 to the police in reparation for a damaged window and electronic panel.

Duty lawyer Tiffany McRae said Johnston had a "difficult encounter with police" on January 5. After he left the police station, he remembered his phone was still in his car.

The 29-year-old tried to get the attention of the police and became frustrated when he was unable to. He punched a window and damaged a panel on the back gate of the station.

"He was frustrated and accepts he needs to pay for the damage he has done," McRae said.

Judge Savage convicted Johnston and ordered him to pay reparation.

"It was an expensive night out," Judge Savage said.

Birthday sentencing

It wasn't quite a happy birthday for a Tinwald man, who ended up with a court date on his big day after being nabbed for drink driving.

Thomas Walter Leaning, 61, admitted drink driving on West Street on November 19 last year.

He blew 499 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

Judge Savage said Leaning had two prior drink driving convictions that were sufficiently "dated" enough to treat it as a first offence.

He fined Leaning $500 plus court costs of $150 and disqualified him from driving for six months.

Dyslexia not an excuse

Judge Savage said dyslexia and not understanding what was covered under firearms for a protection order was not an excuse.

Edward James Searle appeared on a charge of breaching a protection order by having two air guns on May 31 last year.

His lawyer, Cory Shaw, said the 30-year-old had dyslexia and had relied on the information police had told him when they served with the protection order.

Searle had assumed that a firearm would be a gun requiring a license and would not have kept the air guns if he had been aware that the requirement not to possess a firearm included air guns.

Judge Savage declined Shaw's request to discharge Searle without conviction.

"You can’t hide from consequences by pleading dyslexia."

Searle was convicted and given a suspended sentence, and an order was given to destroy the air guns.

Licence misplaced

A driver was given a shorter disqualification after police "misplaced" his licence, which left him unable to drive.

Allenton man Cowan Maitland Wyatt, 27, blew 960mcg after police stopped him on East Street on November 12.

Duty lawyer Paul Bradford said Wyatt made a bad decision to drive and had no previous offending.

Bradford asked Judge Savage to reduce Wyatt's disqualification. When Wyatt had gone to collect his licence after the initial 28-day stand down he was told that the police had misplaced his licence - which left him unable to drive.

Wyatt was convicted and fined $950 for what the judge called "a very high reading".

Judge Savage reduced the eight-month disqualification he had intended to impose to six months.

Eighth conviction

"Your credibility is through the floor," a judge told a driver who, despite facing his eighth drink driving conviction, claimed drink driving was out of character.

"You can’t say on your eighth conviction that it is out of character. You lack the motivation to make the changes necessary," Judge Savage said.

Cameron Ralph Mansel, 44, pleaded guilty to a charge of drink driving. He blew 561mcg in a breath test after police stopped him on Braemar Lauriston Road on November 4.

Mansel told the judge that his alcohol consumption had dropped drastically in the last four years due to his health and he had hoped he wouldn't be close to the limit.

"The wiser option would be not to drink at all – don’t take your chances with the breath alcohol limit," Judge Savage said.

"I don't like tearing strips off people. But at eight times, it would be easy to send you to jail."

Mansell was disqualified from driving for 18 months and sentenced to seven months' home detention.

Disqualification, community work

Dylan Grant Woodley, 31, pleaded guilty to charge of drink driving. He blew 600mcg after police stopped him in Dunedin.

He was disqualified from driving for six months and sentenced to 40 hours' community work.

Driving charges

Anna Noreen O’Riordan, 21, pleaded guilty to drink driving and careless driving on the Westerfield Mayfield Road on November 5 last year.

A blood test revealed she had 102 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

Duty lawyer Tiffany McRae said O’Riordan was on a working holiday visa and due to return to Ireland this week.

She had been drinking in Timaru and had been given a lift home. She has no recollection of why she decided to drive.

O’Riordan had already paid her employer for the damage to the vehicle and had been to check whether there had been damage to the fence.

Judge Savage disqualified O’Riordan from driving for six months and fined her $500 plus the costs of the blood analysis fee.

Discharge without conviction

Quinton James Parish, 50, was discharged without conviction on a charge of cultivating cannabis in March last year.

Judge Savage said Parish was "entitled to play the good character card at your age".

Parish was using cannabis occasionally for medicinal purposes and was in the process of taking the grow area down when police visited on an unrelated matter.

Parish was discharged without conviction. The judge ordered the destruction of the grow equipment seized by police.

Case remanded

Jone Vakawera Delaibatiki, 36, was remanded without plea on a charge of drink driving to allow him to get legal advice.

According to the charge sheet, he blew 684mcg in a breath test on Archibald Street on November 23 last year.

Warrant issued

Judge Savage issued one arrest warrant for non-appearance in court.

Rakaia man James Jay Mavor, 35, failed to appear on a charge of driving while disqualified.