22 Dec 2020
PEARSON v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2020] NZHC 3514
- Citation
- [2020] NZHC 3514
- Court
- High Court
The District Court erred in law by uplifting the starting point to account for prior driving‑while‑impaired convictions in a way that double counted those prior offences; recalculation produced an adjusted starting point and appropriate discounts (25% guilty plea plus 5% for addiction/cultural factors) yielding an end sentence of eight months' imprisonment, and the original 11‑month sentence was manifestly excessive and therefore substituted with eight months' imprisonment. Release conditions and driving disqualification remain unchanged.