Cam Slater: A Slap on the Wrist with a Very Well Soaked Bus Ticket

Kiri Allan told us all that she’d defend her charges, that there was a ‘technical point of law’ that needed to be explored in a trial, that she was innocent and that her case would prove that out.

And then on the morning of the trial after months of preparation for the case by prosecutors had been consumed, a court fixture set and a judge allocated, in other words literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of expenditure wasted, she suddenly decided that she was guilty after all, finally ending the charade and pretence that she was entirely innocent:

Kiri Allan has been convicted for refusing to accompany police after crashing a car while over the drink-driving limit.

The disgraced former Justice Minister pleaded guilty this morning to the charge. She had earlier admitted a charge of careless driving.

Allan was due to go on trial in the Wellington District Court this morning for an incident in which she crashed into a parked car while over the legal alcohol limit, then refused to go with police. She ended up being arrested and taken to the police cells after the incident in July.

But having pleaded guilty at the last minute, she was convicted and sentenced to a fine of $300, and ordered to pay $5296 reparation. She had unsuccessfully applied for a discharge without conviction for the refusing to accompany charge.

Allan, who resigned her portfolios and left politics after the incident, had elected a judge-alone trial, earlier telling the Herald she wanted to test an apparent grey area in the law about the right to consult a lawyer.

This morning, Allan maintained her legal advice suggested there was a case to be argued.

“The last year has been challenging and is a chapter I am wanting closed,” she told the Herald.

“This case is a bookend to that and while the legal advice I received made it clear there was a case to be argued, I’m focused on the future, my whanau and concentrating on what’s important.”

NZ Herald

What’s the bet that her legal advice was that her attempt to get off was actually a forlorn hope?

So she pleads guilty and effectively gets slapped on the wrist with a thoroughly soaked bus ticket.

I can well imagine the judge’s sentencing guidance for this case:

1. Take one standard Wellington City bus ticket.
2. Soak thoroughly in a puddle on a rainy Wellington day until soft, but not yet falling apart.
3. Raise slowly and bring it down across the guilty party’s wrist, trying not to hurt her feelings or affect her ‘mana’ while doing so.
4. Apologise profusely to her, tell her that some semblance of justicy-ness sort of vaguely needs to be shown, while trying not to laugh out loud at the idea.
5. Go down the pub afterwards, have a beer or three with her, then slap her on the back and say “safe driving home Kiri”.

Kiri Allan has wasted a massive amount of time and resources having had police prepare for a trial she knew 100% she was not going to attend. She should be required to pay the costs. Turning up and pleading guilty on the day is a passive-aggressive thing to do.

She did it deliberately. She was never going to defend it or explore a “grey area”. Because there simply isn’t one.

But Stuff adds an interesting dimension:

Her breath alcohol level was 335mcg. The legal limit is 250mcg, but only readings over 400mcg attract a criminal charge.

Stuff

I’d like to see the judge’s notes as to why she did not receive the mandatory 6 months’ disqualification for refusing to accompany.

This all smacks of a cosy little deal cooked up in the smoko room of the court.

Cam Slater is a New Zealand-based blogger, best known for his role in Dirty Politics and publishing the Whale Oil Beef Hooked blog, which operated from 2005 until it closed in 2019. Cam blogs regularly on the BFD - where this article was sourced.