Two tourists were lucky not to be injured more severely after a truck crashed into the back of their car, a police prosecutor says.

An Ashburton truck driver pleaded guilty to causing a serious crash on State Highway One in Timwald in April.

Victor Allan Campbell had held a driver’s licence for 39 years, and a truck licence for around 10 years, without a single driving incident.

On the afternoon of April 19, Campbell was driving a truck and trailer on his last trip of the day.

As he got closer to traffic, driving at 90kph on a 100kph stretch of road, he realised the traffic was at a standstill.

He hit the brakes seven seconds before colliding with the red Ford rental car in front of him, injuring its two tourist occupants – the driver was concussed, and the other passenger covered in lacerations.

The Ford collided with two cars ahead of it in the queue.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Caitlin Brown said the footage she’d seen of the incident was “terrifying”, and that the victims were lucky to have only been injured.

Magistrate O’Brien said the incident was disturbing, but understood Campbell had tried to prevent the crash.

“I accept that you are a safe driver. This was an incident where you came across stalled traffic in a 100kph zone.

“And you were in a truck, it would have been hard to stop suddenly.”

Magistrate O’Brien noted that, as a safe driver, Campbell would carry the emotional trauma of causing the crash.

Emotional harm repayments could not be made to the crash victims, who had returned to their home country and had left no clear form of contact or bank details.

Magistrate O’Brien convicted Campbell, and ordered him to donate $400 to a road safety charity within the month.

Campbell was disqualified for driving for six months, which Magistrate O’Brien backdated to May 18 to let him apply for a limited licence to continue with his job.

Alcohol theft

An Ashburton man has been convicted for stealing whiskey from a local liquor store.

Robert Bruce Brandham pleaded guilty to a shoplifting change from May when he appeared in the Ashburton District Court this week.

Brandham was caught stealing alcohol from Super Liquor in the Ashburton Club and MSA.

According to the summary of facts, he waited until the store clerk was busy before tucking a bottle of Johnnie Walker under his jacket and walking out of the store.

Duty lawyer Claire Yardley said Brandham could not remember having stolen the bottle when confronted by police, which was likely the result of a change in a medicine he had taken.

Magistrate Sally O’Brien said Brandham was “certainly not a habitual shoplifter”, and ordered him to pay $89.99, the cost of the stolen bottle, back to the store.

Drink driving a lesson

A Newland man was warned to practice what he preached after pleading guilty to a drink driving charge.

Duty lawyer Cory Shaw said Reuben Thomas Carr had been teaching his child how to drive when he was caught in June, so having to attend court for drunk driving was “quite embarrassing”.

He had been caught by police while driving down South Street, and blew 652 micrograms – more than double the legal limit.

Carr told police that he had drunk “two big bottles of Export beer” before driving and accepted responsibility for the charge.

While he hadn’t previously been charged for drink driving, Magistrate O’Brien noted he’d acquired a number of demerit points for using a cellphone while driving.

She told Carr he should stop using his phone if he was teaching a young person how to drive.

Carr was disqualified for driving for six months and ordered to pay a $600 fine.

Wake up call

An Ashburton man was given a wake up call after being caught drink driving.

Fintan Donnellan pleaded guilty to one count of drink driving in the Ashburton Magistrate’s court.

Donnellan was caught in April with a breath alcohol level of 494 micrograms.

He had recently been at a pub on Tancred Street.

Magistrate O’Brien told Donnellan he’d made an avoidable decision.

“We have drink driving laws, you should know what they are.”

Donnellan was disqualified from driving for six months and ordered to pay a $400 fine.

Poor choice

A Willowby man has pleaded guilty to drink driving in July.

Conor Richard Fleming has been in court before over driving under the influence of alcohol, the court heard.

Duty lawyer Claire Yardley said Fleming and his partner went to a local tavern in Tinwald and drank alcohol.

Fleming felt he was the least intoxicated of the two and decided to drive home.

He admitted to police after being stopped on Agnes Street that he had consumed about six beers before driving.

Magistrate O’Brien said if Fleming received a third conviction, he could be imprisoned.

“I see someone who may not be an alcoholic, but makes some very poor decisions around drinking.”

Fleming was disqualified from driving for seven months and ordered to pay a $1000 fine.

He was also given nine months of supervision, on the condition that he took an alcohol and drug assessment and partook in recovery courses should they be warranted.

Second chance

A Netherby man in a difficult situation has pleaded guilty to driving with passengers while disqualified

Phoenix King was driving his brother to junior rugby when he was stopped by police.

King, the eldest of four siblings, said his mum was recovering from surgery and no one else was able to take his brother to the game.

Magistrate O’Brien decided not to convict King at this hearing, and asked him to volunteer in the community.

If King completed 40 hours of volunteer work before his next appearance in September, she said, she would have enough mitigation to convict and discharge him – meaning he will not have a criminal record.

“It’s not used very often, but there’s no other way around this,” she said.

“We’re all bending over backwards to help you,” she told King, who accepted her offer and has committed to volunteer 40 hours of work at Hakatere Marae.

Speeding in Rakaia

An Allenton woman was caught speeding through Rakaia, driving double the speed limit.

Leah Cyrena Laplanche was clocked driving over 100kph through the township, which has a speed limit of 50kph.

Duty lawyer Paul Bradford said Laplanche was with her partner and was not paying constant attention to the change in speeds while driving along the state highway.

Bradford noted that the speed limit through Rakaia had only recently been changed from 70kph to 50kph, and added that he wasn’t aware of the change himself until the case was brought before him.

Magistrate O’Brien said Laplanche was unlikely to reappear in court and would be deterred from speeding following her conviction.

Laplanche pleaded guilty and was to pay a $600 fine.

Party foul

An Ashburton drink driver received disqualification, a fine and some parental advice in the Ashburton Magistrate’s court.

Tyler Louise Margot Laxton was stopped by police driving down Cavendish Street at 2am in the morning.

Duty lawyer Paul Bradford said Laxton had been at a party and after an argument broke out, decided to drive the “short” distance to her parents.

She could not call her parents for a pick up as they were out of the country, he said

Magistrate O’Brien told Laxton to “make other plans” when going to parties.

“When you take your cars to these parties, there is a temptation, when something goes wrong, to drive home.”

Laxton pleaded guilty to the charge, was disqualified for driving for six months and was ordered to pay a $600 fine.

Multiple breaches

An Ashburton man broke several laws with one drive.

Campbell John Marchant was caught drink driving on Walnut Avenue in June.

He told police he’d consumed around six beers at the Hotel Ashburton before getting into the vehicle.

Magistrate O’Brien said Marchant was also driving with a passenger on his learner’s licence, driving outside of his licence conditions, driving someone else’s car, and was almost three times over the alcohol limit.

“The fact that you haven’t managed to get off your learner’s licence says a lot about you,” she said.

Following Marchant’s guilty plea, he was sentenced to a seven month disqualification and given a $650 fine. A letter would also be sent to the vehicle’s owner to say that further convictions Marchant received in their vehicles would result in confiscation of the car.

By Anisha Satya