When Eltham woman Sherylee Maree Edwards wanted to get home after an afternoon of drinking in Stratford, she didn't call a taxi. Instead the 33-year-old woman got into an ambulance and landed herself in trouble with the police.
Edwards and her co-accused Malcolm Tapsell, of Stratford, both appeared in the Hawera District Court today on charges relating to the unlawful taking of a Mercedes Sprinter ambulance valued at $200,000 from the Stratford ambulance station.
The court heard that 35-year-old Tapsell , a timber processing operator, climbed into the driver's seat of the ambulance at around 6.50pm on November 19, and Edwards sat in the passenger seat. Tapsell then drove it to the TET Multisports Centre on Portia Street in Stratford, a journey which took about five minutes at which point they were apprehended by police.
Tapsell pled guilty to two of the three charges he faced today, of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and one of driving with excess breath alcohol. Police prosecutor Sergeant Steve Hickey told the court Tapsell's blood alcohol reading was 917mcg. Tapsell entered a plea of not guilty to a third charge of driving while prohibited.
Police opposed bail on the grounds of previous convictions, and Judge Lynne Harrison remanded Tapsell in custody, to return to court on January 19, allowing for a probation report to consider all sentencing options.
