1 Jun 2017
RICHARDS v R [2017] NZCA 232
- Citation
- [2017] NZCA 232
- Court
- Court of Appeal
The Court dismissed the appeal: although the THC finding should not have been treated as an aggravating factor given uncertainty about intoxication, the aggregate of other aggravating features (ignored passenger warnings, prolonged deliberate reckless driving including wrong-way driving and failure to give way, overloading, breach of licence, prior driving history, injuries and theft to avoid detection) justified a high culpability starting point of five years; after applying discounts for youth and guilty pleas the imposed sentence of three years and three months was within the available ran…