New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

New Zealand Case Law

Drink driving causing death

  • 13 Oct 2023

    ALLEN v R [2023] NZHC 2871

    Citation
    [2023] NZHC 2871
    Court
    High Court

    The Court admitted the fresh medical evidence, found the District Court's discounts for injuries, background, remorse and custodial hardship were insufficient, increased the combined discount which reduced the appropriate end sentence to a range allowing community-based punishment, and substituted the two years and seven months imprisonment with nine and a half months home detention (plus concurrent 14 days home detention on the dangerous driving charge), with driving disqualifications unchanged and effect from 11:00am 16 October 2023; the decision rested on the combined impact of fresh medic…

  • 25 May 2023

    LEWIS v R [2023] NZHC 1248

    Citation
    [2023] NZHC 1248
    Court
    High Court

    The 10% uplift imposed at sentencing for additional victim impact was unjustified because the Judge did not articulate why the consequences were significantly greater than at the sentence indication and did not give counsel an opportunity to address an increase beyond the indicated starting point; consequently the uplift was removed, the starting point of three years six months was affirmed and, after applying credited reductions and uplifts, the substituted sentence is two years nine months' imprisonment.

  • 27 Nov 2020

    R v GRACE [2020] NZHC 3145

    Citation
    [2020] NZHC 3145
    Court
    High Court

    A starting point of four years' imprisonment was appropriate given the high culpability and tragic outcome; applying mitigation discounts of 20% for remorse, 10% for prospects of rehabilitation and 25% for an early guilty plea (total 55%) reduced the end sentence to about 21 months, which the judge lawfully substituted with 10 months' home detention given the offender's personal circumstances and effective monitoring; a 12 month disqualification from holding or obtaining a driver licence was ordered and the driving-while-disqualified charge was convicted and discharged.

  • 9 Sept 2020

    R v PAN [2020] NZHC 2342

    Citation
    [2020] NZHC 2342
    Court
    High Court

    Starting point fixed at three years and ten months (three years four months for the drink-driving causing death charge plus a six month uplift for failing to stop) because of high intoxication (214 mg/100ml), poor driving and victim suffering; after applying discounts totalling 25 months (10% good character, 10% remorse, 10% restorative justice, 25% guilty plea) the effective sentence equated to 21 months' imprisonment, but having balanced the purposes of sentencing and mitigating factors (remorse, good character, restorative justice outcome, victim's wish, low reoffending risk and rehabilita…