Hughes v Police

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND CHRISTCHURCH REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA ŌTAUTAHI ROHE

CRI-2018-409-000035

[2018] NZHC 1807

BETWEEN

SHANE EDWARD HUGHES

Appellant

AND

NEW ZEALAND POLICE

Respondent

Hearing:

19 July 2018

Appearances:

K L Chalmers for Appellant

S Bicknell Young for Respondent

Judgment:

19 July 2018

ORAL JUDGMENT OF VENNING J

Solicitors/counsel:           K L Chalmers, Christchurch

Crown Solicitor, Christchurch

HUGHES v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2018] NZHC 1807 [19 July 2018]

[1]        Shane Hughes pleaded guilty to charges of driving whilst disqualified (third or subsequent), driving with excess breath alcohol (third or subsequent), reckless operation of a motor vehicle, resisting a constable, and possession of offensive weapons.

[2]        On 21 March 2018 Judge A A Couch sentenced Mr Hughes to imprisonment for one year and 10 months and imposed standard and special release conditions together with disqualification.1

[3]Mr Hughes appeals against sentence. The grounds of appeal are:

(a)the Judge erred by declining Mr Hughes’ application for an adjournment, thus preventing him from pursuing alternative addresses for a home detention sentence; and

(b)that the sentence was manifestly excessive, in particular the sentences imposed for the charges of possession of offensive weapon and excess breath alcohol charges.

[4]        Mr Hughes seeks orders quashing the sentence and remitting it back to the District Court and in the alternative, but not preferred, an order quashing sentence and substituting a different lesser sentence.

[5]        At the outset of the hearing of this appeal this morning Ms Chalmers sought an adjournment. She advanced two reasons in particular for the adjournment:

(a)first, she wanted time to respond to the Crown submissions insofar as they rely on a passage in the pre-sentence report; and

(b)second, she only received the Crown submissions in the evening of Tuesday and had only had one clear day to consider them.

1      New Zealand Police v Hughes [2018] NZDC 8444.

[6]        I declined the application for adjournment. I indicated that I was prepared not to take account of the particular passage in the pre-sentence report and indicated that in my view one day to prepare a response to the Crown submissions in reply on a sentence appeal was sufficient. However I stood the matter down from the list in the morning to 3.45 pm for the appeal to give counsel further time.

[7]        The relevant offending is described by the Judge in his sentencing notes as involving two incidents.

[8]        In the afternoon of 15 October 2016 Mr Hughes was driving a car on State Highway 2 near Waipukurau. At the time he was disqualified from driving. That led to the charge of driving whilst disqualified (third or subsequent).

[9]        Seven months later, on 20 May 2017, Mr Hughes was again driving in the Waipukurau area. He failed to stop at a police cordon which had been set up to stop him. He drove off at a speed estimated of up to 100 kilometres an hour in a 50 kilometre per hour residential zone. He hit a traffic island at…