In 2019, Joshua John Chellew, 36, was sentenced to four months’ home detention for the 2018 hit-and-run death of Zara Blackie on State Highway 1 in Oamaru.
On the night Zara died, Chellew had been at his Oamaru address socialising and drinking with friends.
While Chellew slowed momentarily, he sped away in a southbound direction, before handing himself in to police the next morning.
Chellew was convicted of failing to stop to ascertain injury. Judge Joanna Maze said the accident "occurred so quickly that [Chellew] had almost no opportunity to respond in the particular circumstances".
Since then, Chellew has continued to find himself in trouble for his driving.
He avoided prison again in 2021 after he accelerated away from police, reaching speeds of up to 130kmh.
The court heard that Chellew and his passenger threw bottles, pieces of wood and other items at the following police car before attempting to ram it.
When the pursuit came to an end, the defendant punched the arresting officer and grabbed him around the throat.
He squeezed the officer’s neck and genitals and jumped on top of the police vehicle. It took two officers to arrest him.
Last year, Chellew was still accumulating driving offences and on September 3, was pulled over by police.
While he initially co-operated, he became argumentative upon being informed he was under arrest.
As he resisted the officer, he called her a "Nazi" and threatened to render her unconscious.
The officer was able to place one handcuff on Chellew but he wrenched his arm away, before fleeing the scene in his vehicle with the handcuffs still attached to his wrist.
"I’ll cut to the chase," Judge Campbell Savage said in the Oamaru District Court last week.
"You threatened to do grievous bodily harm to a police officer. That is the most serious charge you are facing."
Chellew was apprehended and granted electronically monitored bail on November 29.
Two weeks later he used a handheld power tool to saw off his ankle bracelet.
When the defendant was finally tracked down he absconded again, jumping over a fence to flee from police.
The defendant accumulated seven charges in total, including wilful damage of the GPS bracelet worth $1200.
Last week, Chellew was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment and disqualified from driving for a further two years.
Counsel Emma Middlemass asked for permission to apply for home detention, but Judge Savage was quick to turn down the request.
"Not after you used an angle grinder to cut off your last bracelet. No."
