The driver in a high-speed crash who left his injured passengers at the scene may get out of jail a few weeks earlier than he originally thought.
Reagan Mano John Heke (37) was jailed for two years, eight months when he was sentenced in the Dunedin District Court in April.
As part of that sentence, time had been added for offending while on bail.
However, counsel Brian Kilkelly successfully argued before the High Court at Dunedin in July that the issue had been ''double counted'' because Heke had already been sentenced for breaching bail.
Justice Simon France shaved two months off the total.
While he acknowledged it was a small decrease, he ruled an error had occurred which needed to be redressed.
Heke had been driving at up to 117kmh in Corstorphine Rd (a 50kmh limit) in the early hours of February 17, 2017 when he lost control.
He slammed into a parked vehicle which ripped the rear door from the Subaru he was driving.
A man seated in the back was flung out by the force of the collision and lay on the ground unconscious.
Heke's then partner, with whom he had been arguing at the time, struck the windscreen with her head and was ''screaming hysterically'', the court heard at sentencing.
Two parked vehicles were damaged in the dramatic smash, which drew residents from their homes despite the time.
First Heke tried to drive off and when he realised the car was not up to it, he ran.
An off-duty police officer witnessed the events and directed his colleagues to a property in Corstorphine Rd, where Heke was eventually found hiding in bushes.
The defendant failed to turn up for his scheduled trial on the two charges of dangerous driving causing injury.
On September 4 last year, police found him hiding in a cupboard with a black duffel bag cupboard containing $4400 of methamphetamine, electronic scales, a glass pipe, self-sealing bags, a hunting knife, knuckle dusters and $360 in cash.
''It does appear to indicate that contrary to his own assertions, Mr Heke had a significant methamphetamine problem,'' Justice France said.
