News Tuesday, July 19, 2016
www.guardianonline.co.nz
Ashburton Guardian
5
■ LAKE HOOD TRIP
Boat stolen off side of road By Colin EngElBrECht Colin.E@thEguardian.Co.nz
Just a matter of hours was all it took for Daniel Heslip’s boat to be stolen. Mr Heslip was on his way back from a Queen’s Birthday Weekend trip out to Lake Hood when the trailer his boat was on got a punctured tyre. Unfortunately his spare tyre was flat so he had to leave the boat on the corner of Lills and
Maronan roads while he drove back to Fairlie to do repairs. By the time Mr Heslip got back to where he left his boat it was all gone. “It’s a pretty distinct boat, if someone were to see it it’s pretty recognisable,” he said. Mr Heslip said he and his mate have owned the red and white Glastron fibreglass hull boat for the past five or six years. “Wherever it is it’ll be sitting in someone’s shed. “I reckon it’ll be
back out on Lake Hood this summer,” he said. Mr Heslip said he never normally goes out to Lake Hood, but they were taking his kids out on a final cruise before winter. He said the boat has a lot of sentimental value. “It’s worth a lot more to me than it’s insured for,” he said. Anyone who has seen the boat or knows any information on its whereabouts should call 027 531- 5317.
Daniel Heslip’s Glastron boat last seen on the corner of Lills and Maronan Road on Queen’s Birthday Weekend. PHOTO SUPPLIED
ASHBURTON DISTRICT COURT NEWS
Man assaults ex-partner, throttles kitten A man who drank wine directly from a cask before assaulting his former partner and throttling a kitten has been told all sentencing options will be open when he returns to court next month. Dean Geoffrey Smallbridge, of Ashburton, admitted charges of assault, wilful damage, animal cruelty and possessing cannabis when he appeared before Judge Gary MacAskill in the Ashburton District Court yesterday. The court was told Smallbridge had been drinking wine and home-brewed beer at his home on June 25. The couple were play fighting when he took umbrage to the complainant “playfully” pulled his goatee beard and reacted by poking her in the eye with some force. He later awoke the complainant in an argumentative mood, prompting her to leave the home. When she returned she found the television had been smashed. When the complainant denied knowing where his cigarettes and cannabis were, Smallbridge picked up a six-month-old kitten by the neck and choked it in front of her before dropping it on the bed, saying: “I just choked Bob.” The kitten was unresponsive but later recovered.
Following his arrest police found Smallbridge to be in possession of a small tin of cannabis. He will be sentenced on August 29. Judge MacAskill ordered the presentence report include all sentencing options.
Mailbox rampage A rampage after a night out during which six mailboxes were damaged has cost a young man close to $2500. Joshua John Moffat’s offending occurred in the early hours of June 25 as he walked along a New Plymouth street. The occupier of one address targeted by Moffat awoke to the sound of his mailbox being destroyed and followed him in his vehicle before reporting the offending to police. When questioned, Moffat initially denied wrecking the mailboxes but later admitted to being the culprit. He has now relocated to Rakaia to work, and appeared in the Ashburton District Court yesterday to answer to six counts of wilful damage. Judge Gary MacAskill queried the cost of $517 requested as reparation by the owners of one of the mailboxes.
Police prosecutor senior sergeant Mike Wingfield told the court the repair costs had involved concrete work and verified the amount was correct. Moffat was ordered to pay fines of $800, court costs of $780, and reparations of $860.
Third strike A third conviction for drink driving has cost a young woman her liberty, but she could be back behind the wheel in three months. Sharon Sandra Kanta, 29, of Southbridge, returned an evidential breath test of 1571 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath when she was stopped by police. The high reading is more than six times the lower limit of 250mcg/l imposed in 2014 for drivers over 20 years of age. Kanta had two previous convictions for drink driving both incurred on the same day in 2011. She was sentenced to 18 weeks home detention during which she is not to possess or use alcohol or illegal drugs and to attend counselling as directed by probation services. Kanta was disqualified from driving for a mandatory threemonth period after which she has permission to apply for an alcohol
interlock licence which requires a device to be fitted to the vehicle to prevent it starting if any alcohol is detected on her breath. After the device is removed Kanta must apply for and use a zero alcohol licence for three years. Judge Gary MacAskill said if home detention had not been an option Kanta would be going to prison.
Noncompliance When attending to an 80-hour community work sentence handed down for drink driving last year became an ordeal Courtney Paige Dempsey opted out. Yesterday the 21-year-old was left in no doubt what Judge Gary MacAskill thought of her reasons, when he remanded her into custody in the Ashburton District Court cells. Dempsey faced sentencing on two charges of breaching the community work sentence and a review of the sentence, requested by probation services. Defence lawyer Douglas Brown had requested the community work sentence be converted to community detention, with an 8pm to 6am sentence. He told the court Dempsey received $210 a week on a benefit
and paid $200 in board, leaving her with just $10 for travel expenses. Judge MacAskill was not swayed by her plight, suggesting she obtained a bicycle. “Your client is here facing a custodial sentence for noncompliance,” he said. “I need to be persuaded she can’t do community work. “The usual reaction of the court for people who don’t do their community work is they go to jail.” On returning to the courtroom, Dempsey had reviewed the situation and committed to completing the outstanding 64 hours and had made arrangements with family members to transport her to community work. Judge MacAskill said many people request community detention to evade the impact community work imposes on their lifestyles, but Dempsey had no reasonable explanation for her persistent noncompliance. He warned her any further breaches would result in a prison term, before sentencing her to four months community detention with an amended curfew of 7pm to 6am on the breach charges. Dempsey’s compliance with the existing community work sentence will be monitored.
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