A Queenstown man has dodged a driving ban for refusing to provide a blood specimen after police accepted he had not been driving.
At his sentencing in the Queenstown District Court yesterday, Jacob Johnathan Tame Griffiths (35) admitted the charge, which was laid by police after an incident in the resort town’s CBD about 9.30am on February 3.
The police summary of facts said Griffiths and two associates were involved in a disorderly behaviour incident while driving in Beach St.
The defendant, who had appeared intoxicated when he got out of the car, refused to undergo a breath screening test.
He refused to undergo the test a second time at the police station, and then refused to provide a blood specimen at Lakes District Hospital.
Police claimed Griffiths was driving the vehicle, but his lawyer, Ben Alexander, said that was not the case.
Griffiths, who had earlier been drinking at a friend’s house, was a passenger in the vehicle, he said.
At some point during the disorderly behaviour incident, the car’s gear stick was pulled from its socket and ended up on the ground beside the car.
Griffiths leaned out of the car to retrieve the gear stick and tried to reattach it, but during this attempt inadvertently put the car into reverse gear, causing it to travel about 30cm.
The episode was captured by CCTV, he said.
He made an application under a section of the Land Transport Act for the defendant not to be disqualified.
The police accepted the defendant’s account of events.
Judge Russell Walker said there were "special circumstances" behind the offending, as required by the Act, and he would not impose a disqualification. He convicted Griffiths and sentenced him to nine months’ supervision to enable intervention for any factors related to the offending.
