Jenni Heazlewood said she was "not impressed" when she heard Anne Marie Patelesio (20) appealed her reparation order in the High Court at Invercargill this week.
Patelesio was convicted of driving with an excess blood-alcohol level of 200mg and dangerous driving after driving over a traffic island and crashing through a fence into a stone barbecue and ending up in Mrs Heazlewood's swimming pool on July 27.
She was sentenced to 12 months' supervision, 250 hours' community work and disqualified for 12 months by Judge Kevin Phillips on October 19 for dangerous driving and driving with excess blood-alcohol of 200mg.
The judge did not order reparation at that time because he wanted a full reparation report first.
In November, Judge Dominic Flatley ordered her to pay $3900 to the Queenstown Lakes District Council for damage to the traffic island and $250 excess to Mrs Heazlewood for excess on her insurance claim.
At the time he said the total damage to the property was $37,756.13 and the insurance company could take civil action to recover the rest.
Lawyer Phena Byrne argued before Justice Lang in the High Court at Invercargill yesterday that splitting the sentence was outside the court's jurisdiction, The Southland Times reported.
If Justice Lang agreed, then the reparation order would be nullified, Ms Byrne said.
"There's no doubt that the victims here may well suffer as a consequence," she asked.
"Thankfully, the owners of the property were covered by insurance. They were out of pocket, but not by a substantial amount of money. The council is perhaps more out of pocket."
Ms Byrne said the risk of splitting the sentence was that Patelesio's sentence of community work could not be adjusted according to the amount of reparation she was required to pay.
Crown prosecutor Katherine Siave said the split sentencing put Judge Flatley in a difficult situation but not outside the jurisdiction of the court.
Ms Byrne said it was unfortunate that Patelesio's lawyer at the time had encouraged the judge to pass sentence before all the reparation matters were considered.
Patelesio had been anxious to learn whether she would be imprisoned.
Justice Lang reserved his decision.
Mrs Heazlewood told The Otago Daily Times yesterday the damage had only been fully fixed about a month ago.
"We even had to get new grass laid because there was so much glass embedded in the ground," she said.
The insurance paid for the pool and decking to be replaced but some things were irreplaceable, like pots which had been in her family for generations.
She said the damage had not only cost money, but time and stress on herself and her husband Graeme.
"Everything is being forced on us. We are the victims. Why should we have to pay?" she asked.
Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Clive Geddes said he could not comment on a matter before the courts. The traffic island had been repaired using maintenance funds which were available at the time, he said.
