Jivan Wayne Kingi Halford-Feron, 28, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week on a range of charges including what Judge Emma Smith called the "gross and flagrant" breach.
In June 2023, the defendant had been sentenced to community detention on his ninth driving-while-disqualified conviction, ordered to abide by an 8pm-7am curfew for four months.
When his dad’s wedding rolled around in September, Halford-Feron sought an approved absence to go to the after-party.
Despite being declined the last-minute request, he attended the festivities anyway.
It was one of "numerous" breaches of the sentence, according to court documents.
In March last year, with the charges hanging over him, Halford-Feron was caught on CCTV driving into a petrol station forecourt while disqualified.
The same day he argued with a woman at a Nicholson St address, drove into a fence then punched her in the back of the head.
The repeated indiscretions resulted in the defendant spending a couple of months behind bars before he was granted electronically monitored bail.
Judge Smith acknowledged his behaviour had improved during the eight months he was wearing the bracelet but there remained a problem.
During the eight months on bail, Halford-Feron had "woefully" neglected a community work sentence that had been imposed for his earlier driving crimes.
In 20 months, he had completed just 45 hours of the 250 required - an average of about half an hour a week.
"He’s done nothing to help himself the last number of months," the judge said.
"There has to be very real personal deterrence ... to make you accountable."
Halford-Feron had routinely appeared in court over the past decade, and had received almost every sentence possible.
Attempts to assist with the defendant’s rehabilitation had been largely ignored, Judge Smith noted.
Halford-Feron was jailed for nine months, banned from driving until October next year and fined $500.
