A former president of the Mongrel Mob’s Invercargill chapter who rammed a BNZ kiosk in central Queenstown was in a "psychotic state", his lawyer says.
The incident, which occurred about 11.45pm on March 10, was Shaun Verdun Te Kahu’s third offence that day.
About 5.30pm, the 51-year-old was lingering in the lobby of Queenstown’s Hilton hotel when he used a sharp object to scratch lettering into a wall before leaving and driving to Lake Esplanade.
About 6pm, he drove to the Z Energy station in Frankton Rd, putting $118.66 of petrol in his car before yelling "thank the police for the free fuel" as he drove away without paying.
Back in the CBD later that night, he became angry over an issue with an ATM at a BNZ self-service kiosk in Camp St, so got into his car and reversed into it at speed.
Video taken by onlookers showed him casually getting out of the car to inspect the damage, getting back in and ramming the kiosk a second time.
He drove off empty-handed as the first police officer arrived, while another officer had to take evasive action to avoid being hit by Te Kahu’s car.
Soon after, his car was spotted by police in Frankton Rd, where he veered on to the wrong side of the road, overtook a bus, swerved "all over the lane" and tailgated another vehicle.
Heading south towards Kingston, he reached speeds of 140kmh and was observed overtaking one vehicle on double yellow lines before a blind corner.
His car was successfully spiked near Lumsden, and he was arrested.
Te Kahu was subsequently charged with intentional damage to BNZ Queenstown and Hilton Queenstown, dangerous driving, aggravated failing to stop for police, and theft from Z Energy Queenstown .
At his sentencing in the Invercargill District Court on Tuesday, counsel Sonia Vidal said the offending occurred "against the backdrop of a psychotic state" that might have been induced by drugs or "some other issues going on".
Since his arrest, he had served the equivalent of a six-month term of imprisonment in custody.
He wanted to move on and focus on being a grandfather, Ms Vidal said.
Judge Duncan Harvey told Te Kahu there were many young people in the area "getting into trouble" because they were poor and lacked guidance from the adults in their lives.
It would be a "good thing" if he passed on some life lessons to those young people.
"You could do so much good, because you could stop a lot of these kids going on the track that you did."
He convicted Te Kahu on all charges and sentenced him to two years’ intensive supervision.
