A Mayfield man, with a history of offending, has reappeared in the Ashburton District court.

He was Jarrad Clarence Townley, 36, who pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour and obstructing police work.

In October, Townley and the victim had been at a pub when he asked to speak outside.

According to the summary of facts, Townley became “extremely angry and aggressive,” and said he would smash the victim’s truck and hurt their dog.

On a separate occasion, he’d been a passenger in a car, which caught fire.

He had been drinking, and continuously interrupted police, who were carrying out breath tests with the driver of the vehicle.

Lawyer Tiffany McRae said Townley’s behaviour “wasn’t what it should have been”.

“He’s been out of prison for about four years, working full time on a dairy farm, and has a regular schedule,” she added, showing he’d made attempts to right his history of offences.

Magistrate Robati said he needed assistance in dealing with those “underlying issues”.

He convicted Townley and sentenced him to 40 hours community work.

He also wanted Townley to get involved with some rehabilitation programmes.

‘Unfortunate decision’

A Willowby man pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of almost four times the legal limit of alcohol.

Andrew Leslie Langford, 68, was caught driving with an alcohol breath reading of 930 micrograms - the legal limit is 250.

Lawyer Gretchen Hart said Langford had visited Methven and intended to stay overnight.

He’d been at a bar and had about four glasses of beer before heading to his car to grab something, later deciding to drive his vehicle a little closer to the bar.

Police stopped him on his short trip and found he had almost quadruple the legal limit of alcohol in his system.

Hart said he understood there would be severe consequences as his alcohol level was on the higher end of the spectrum.

“He made a very unfortunate decision, which he regrets now, to drive his vehicle.”

An alcohol interlock would need to be bought by Langford, and installed in his car, after a driving disqualification period.

“This [conviction] will create some challenges for him,” Hart said.

Magistrate Robati convicted Langford and ordered him to pay a fine of $930 and court costs.

He is disqualified from driving for a month, must drive with an alcohol interlock for a year, and must drive on a zero-alcohol licence for three years afterwards.

Suspended driver on the road

Paea Junior Talitiga Matau, 20, was caught driving while his licence was suspended just four days after the suspension was ordered.

Lawyer Gretchen Hart acknowledged that Matau had a history of driving while suspended, but it boiled down to him being caught solo driving while on a learner’s licence.

Matau works fulltime and has no previous offences to his merit, Hart said.

He meant to apply for his learner’s recently, but the court hearing caused some issues.

Hart asked Magistrate Robati to consider delaying Matau’s sentencing to complete the test.

“There may be, if he does that, some leniency to the court for a partial backdating [of disqualification],” she said.

Robati said Matau was not likely to reoffend and needed to get out of the court system.

“It would be in everyone’s interest for you to go away and get your restricted licence.”

Matau is remanded at large until late March next year.

Driving while disqualified

A Tinwald man caught driving while disqualified said he simply “was dumb,” and made a bad decision.

Oliver Michael Phillips, 21, was stopped driving while disqualified just a month after receiving the disqualification.

He told the police he knew he shouldn’t have been driving, “was dumb, and had no explanation,” according to the fact summary.

Lawyer Tiffany McRae said he later explained he’d been off to deal with a family situation.

She said Phillips had been attending job interviews and the disqualification was a challenge for him.

Magistrate Robati convicted Phillips, fined him $450 and court costs, and reset his disqualification period to six months.

Drink driving under 20

In September, Alexander Samuel Logan Antonio Fangaiuiha,18, had been stopped by police with 219 micrograms of alcohol in his system.

He explained he’d “drunk something earlier” and was headed to a friend’s house for a sleepover.

Duty lawyer Tiffany McRae said Fangaiuiha accepted he shouldn’t have driven with alcohol in his system as an under 20-year-old.

She said he had no previous convictions and was otherwise a good young man, wrapping up college this year and hoping to get into a mechanic apprenticeship.

Magistrate Robati convicted Fangaiuiha and ordered him to pay a fine of $219, court costs, and be disqualified from driving for three months.

Honest offender

Jamie Robin, 42, failed a breath test with an alcohol level of 595 micrograms.

He told police he’d had six beers before getting behind the wheel.

Lawyer Gretchen Hart said Robin had been playing darts at a friend’s house, not having eaten, and despite that decided to drive.

“I think this is a matter the defendant deeply regrets,” she told Magistrate Robati.

He needs to drive for work, so a disqualification would “cause significant hardship.”

She pointed out that Robin had not been stopped for his manner of driving and had been honest to the police when caught.

Robati said Robin had been cooperative and well-mannered through the process.

“I understand you are deeply remorseful to be here.”

Robin pleaded guilty and was convicted.

He must pay a fine of $500 and court costs and is disqualified from driving for six months.

Careless driving

Juan Paulo Alejandro Hilario, 39, reappeared in court after causing a crash that left several people injured, including his wife.

The court had heard in a previous session that he was extremely remorseful and ashamed about the incident.

Around $26,000 of reparations was in order, which could potentially be covered by insurance.

Lawyer Gretchen Hart asked Magistrate Robati to allow for a reparations report, tallying the costs, to be made and submitted to the court and insurance company. She also sought time for restorative justice to occur.

“If you get the opportunity to go ahead with the RJ, I suggest you make the most of it,” Robati told Hilario.

The case was put off and Robati remanded at large until early February next year.